Not Your Dad's Beer & Popcorn

I'm a big fan of bar popcorn. You know the stuff. The popcorn machine sits in one of the dim corners of the bar supplying an endless amount of salty, buttery goodness. Get me going on that stuff and I'll power through a couple bowls of each with each pint. The popcorn I had last night was of a completely different ilk.

The BeerMongers is one of my favorite places in town and last night they had a beer and popcorn event. Representatives from Ballast Point were in town and Mongers had seven of their beers on tap ranging from ones I'd had before, like Sculpin, to new-to-me Indra Kunindra, a coconut curry stout. In addition they had local popcorn makers Masala Pop on hand sampling and selling popcorn with flavors like saffron rose and coconut curry.

I didn't have the time to sit down and have every beer paired with each of their popcorns so I went with the most intriguing beer, Indra Kunindra, which Masala Pop paired with saffron rose popcorn. I was skeptical that the flavor of the popcorn would be powerful enough to stand up to the delicious but assertive coconut curry. Thankfully I'm the trusting sort when it comes to pairings because this was a good one. Indra is a meal in a glass with a fair amount of curry heat and the popcorn, while not strongly flavored in one direction, is some of the best "caramel corn" I've ever had and tempered the spiciness nicely.

Those familiar with Mongers know there's a good chance at least some offerings from an event will still be available the next day. They also keep a supply of the savory masala popcorn available for purchase by the bowlful. In addition Masala Pop is available at a number of stores around town and since Mongers doesn't mind if you bringing in your own food, you could pick some up for your own pairing experiments. Not a bad Friday night plan, huh?