When we visited Rogue Brewery on our Oregon Coast trip, Hubs wanted to buy some beer to take home. I took the kids out to the car so he could make his selections in peace. Foolish me—he came out with a 40-50lb box of beer. In that box was a pink bottle of Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale. Yes, you read that correctly.
You've heard of Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland, right? And their famous bacon maple bar? I thought so.
When I found the recipe for this caramelized onion and goat cheese pizza, I had a hunch it would pair well with the unique beer. It absolutely did.
The crust for this pizza uses the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes dough. (Recipe here, called White Boule Artisan Free-Form Loaf. I substituted 40% of the white flour with whole wheat flour.) We really liked the crust, and prep was very easy, since I already had the dough in the fridge. Last week I made a loaf of crusty bread to go with some homemade minestrone, pizza crust tonight, and I'll use the rest of the dough for some yummy cinnamon swirl bread.
The caramelized onion and goat cheese combination on top of this crust was divine. The kids wouldn't touch it, but Hubs and I loved it. We'll be making this again, for sure.
But you want to know about that crazy doughnut beer, right?
We liked it! It was definitely different from any other beer I've tried. When I brought the glass up to my nose, I smelled sweet maple instantly. That's the first taste I got, too—sweet maple + beer—like someone stirred maple syrup into a good beer. It finished with a smoky flavor, like the smokiness of bacon without the fatty, salty taste. I'm glad it wasn't too bacon-y.
I'm not a fan of anything super sweet, so I'm not sure I'd drink this beer alone. But I'd definitely have it again paired with something savory and equally assertive, like the pizza.
What do you think? Have you seen this beer? Have you tried it? If not, would you? What would you pair it with?
Note: We bought the beer. No one provided it or asked us to buy it, no one asked us to review it, no one asked me to post about it here. I thought it was fun, inventive, interesting, and worth sharing, so I'm sharing. :)
