Pride Pub: Orlando City at San Jose Earthquakes — Dessert Edition

It’s a double Pub week, Mane Landers, and we’ve got a late one Wednesday night against the San Jose Earthquakes. I’m guessing most of us will have eaten dinner by game time, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still enjoy some grub and grog pairings. It just so happens that beer and certain desserts are outstanding together, so welcome to the first all-dessert edition of Pride Pub.

Just a reminder on how this works: We choose a craft beer from the country/state/city of our opponent and we include an appropriate recipe dessert to go along with it. Of course, we also choose a Florida craft beer to complement our other recipe dessert and to represent our Orlando City Lions here in the beautiful Sunshine State.

From California: Hop Stoopid Double IPA, Lagunitas Brewing Co.

Given that this is an imperial or double IPA and comes in at 8.2% ABV (alcohol by volume), I’m not recommending you have a bunch if you have to be at work in the morning. However, it will be a tasty, if “stoopid,” beer for your dessert.

According to the brewery:

"The beer with a guarantee built right into the name, this one is destined to blast through the flavors from the night before. Massively dry-hopped for your aromatic pleasure.”

Pair with: Salted Caramel Cheesecake. Double IPAs are quite formidable, and require a dessert than can stand up to the taste. A cheesecake has the heft to do it, and the salted caramel provides a delicious flavor to hold up to the IPA.

Dave’s Recommendations: It’s a little late for anything else other than the beer and the dessert, don’t you think?

From Florida: Honey Back Doppelbock, Central 28 Beer Co.

It’s almost like the folks at Central 28 knew we’d be doing a dessert edition, and provided a honey-infused doppelbock just for us. Fortunately, we know the care that they put into brewing their core beers, so you can be certain that this seasonal will be excellent as well.

According to the brewery:

"Honey Bach is a strong lager, often referred to as a doppel, or double bock. We brewed this beer with traditional German hops, yeast, and malt, cool fermented it, and aged (lagered) it for six weeks. It was brewed with a generous addition of Gallberry and Orange Blossom honey from Florida. This unfiltered lager pours a deep, hazy gold with a thick white cap of foam. The aroma is lightly sweet and subtly complex. Floral and herbal notes from the honey generate a unique aroma that when backed by the complex malt aromatics is mesmerizing without being ostentatious. Rich, balanced malt notes dominate the flavor profile, and the beer finishes smooth and slightly sweet without being cloying. While clocking in at a substantial 7.5% abv, this beer never feels overly strong or aggressive. Incredibly smooth, complex and drinkable, this strong lager highlights beautiful honey notes into a beer that is complex while remaining accessible."

Pair with: Chocolate Honey Cake. Doppelbocks usually pair well with German chocolate cake or Black Forest cake, but given the time Central 28 put into adding the honey, we’re going with chocolate and honey. Enjoy!

Dave’s Recommendations: Seriously, it’s going to be a late night and you don’t need any more calories before midnight!

Well, Mane Landers, that concludes our first all-dessert Pride Pub. Please let us know in the comments which was your favorite. Thanks for stopping by and Go City!