Centennial Crafted Beer + Eatery

 

While I will admit to liking beer, most of the time when I go out for a beer, I prefer going to a place that also serves good food.  I kept seeing Centennial Crafted Beer + Eatery popping up as a good place to eat  and drink, so I decided to try it out. Located in River North, next to Tapas joint, Cafe, Iberico, it's pretty narrow with a small sign, so you kind of have to know where it is.  Inside, it is very rustic with the walls showing horizontal 2x4s.  The bar is long, with a very long tap line and the present beer list behind that.  The beer menu is divided into several categories that are more than simply the style of the beer.  They are listed as Hoppy, Roasty, Refreshing, Wet Hopped, Session, Malty, and Belgian and Wild, with a list of upcoming drafts.  I started things out with a beer from a new brewery that is actually a collaboration.  Warpigs Brewery is a collaboration between Danish Gypsy Brewer Mikkeller and local heroes, Three Floyds.  The beer that I had was called Foggy Geezer Hazy DIPA.  DIPA seems to mean different things depending on the brewery, for some, it's a more bitter and higher alcohol beer akin to an Imperial IPA for others, it seems to be a combination of a Belgian Dubbel and an IPA.  This seems to fall in the latter category.  It is fairly bitter, but it has a slight sweetness, and a dry earthy finish.  I like hoppy beers, but I could do without hop bombs, and this one seems to avoid going simply for bitter.

The menu is divided into Snacks, Small Plates, Charcuterie and Cheese, Mains, Greens, and Sandwiches.  It also gave an indication as to the style you might want to pair each dish with.  There were a lot of things on the menu that looked really good, but I wasn't starving, so I decided to take it easy and order a snack and a sandwich.  For my snack, I ordered Lamb Meatballs with Curried Lamb, Beer Jus, Mustard Greens, and Golden Raisins.  I was actually surprised at the size of this item which was listed as a snack and when I finished, I was almost finished.  It was very flavorful with the curry, and the mustard greens providing an herbal spiciness, and the golden raisins adding a sweet finish.  I didn't precisely plan to pair my dishes with my beer, but it was recommended to pair an IPA with this.  As that is what I started with, I can say that their pairing recommendation was on point.

 

My second beer was Greenbush's Distorter Porter, which was very rich and creamy, and had a nice bitter roasted malt flavor.  This inadvertently paired perfectly with the KBS Barrel Wood Smoked Pork Sandwich with Dry Rubbed Pork Shoulder, Slow Smoked, Cilantro Lime Slaw, Avocado Crema, on a Toasted Baguette with Frites on the side.  This was a very good sandwich with a meaty and smoky flavor.  The Avocado Crema and the Cilantro-Lime Slaw almost gave it a Mexican flavor without the heat.  The frites were double fried and had a crispy outside and a soft inside, were nicely salted, and tasted very good.  This was also more than I could handle after the lamb meatballs.  I really enjoyed it, but it didn't get finished.  While I was there I didn't see a dessert list, but even if I had, I'm not sure that I would have been able to dive in.  Everything was very good and I will have to come back, but I will definitely have to come hungry next time and better plan my eating.