While Cabernet & Company doesn't serve food, they are best known for their wines. However, they also sell high-end beers, and I have tell you about a line of suds I discovered this past weekend--St. Peter's Brewery from the United Kingdom. This brewer offers beers and ales, fruit and spiced beers, organic ales, porters and stouts and seasonal beers (all $3.95, and well worth the price). I purchased the Old Style Porter (5.1% ABV), and wasn't disappointed. This fine beer is a blend of a mature old ale and a younger light beer--just as a true Porter should be. The marriage produces an extremely characterful brew, which is dark in color and complex in taste. it's recommended to serve the beer at room temperature, which I did, and the flavors really developed after the chill melted away. The bottles are eye-catching as well--they make me imagine something that I'd be served visiting a pub in the 18th century.
Here's how St. Peter's describes the beer on their site: "Our Beers are all 'real ales' and are brewed using the finest ingredients - local East Anglian malts and British hops. Our water is drawn from our own deep source within the chalk layer way below St. Peter’s Hall and is ideal for brewing. We brew 'traditional' beers - bitters, mild etc. - as well as some more unusual beers such as honey porter and fruit beer. Even these, however, are not really 'exotic' at all as it was common practice up to the Nineteenth Century to add fruits and honey to beers to create special seasonal brews. Thus blackcurrant and gooseberry beers would be brewed when soft fruits were readily available while at Christmas-time dried fruits, spices and orange peel would be added to create a special Christmas Ale. At St. Peter’s we aim to carry on traditional brewing practices but hope always to have something new and exciting for you to try."
Visit the brewer's Web site at www.stpetersbrewery.co.uk to read more about these fine offerings. For more information about Cabernet & Company, which also has locations in Naperville and Oak Park, visit www.cabernetco.com (434 N. Main St., Glen Ellyn, 630/469-2644).
On a scale of 1 fork to 5 forks (1 fork is not good), I'd give these beers 5 forks. Happy Eating...er, Drinking this time! Mr. Foodie
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