Something Witty and Nonnie & Poppie’s Friselles
The Beer: Counterweight is at it again. They released this belgium wheat ale on Memorial Day weekend and it is brilliant. I love this style of beer and they really knocked it out of the park. I grabbed a four pack and brought it to a Memorial Day picnic at the grandparent’s house. Almost no one drinks beer at their house so I figured I was safe with one four pack, maybe I would even have one to take home. This was NOT THE CASE! I opened one and after I shared a sip with one person, the rest were gone in no time at all.
This belgian wheat ale or Wit is incredibly light and refreshing but full of hop aroma and a mild malt. Some bready notes and a small bite gives this beer an airy but delicious taste - perfect summer beer. I hope I can get my hands on more of this. Also, the can art is down right laugh out loud material. A simple post it note image with the name “Something Witty” written on it. A tongue-in-cheek goof that is just right.
The Cookie: Alright maybe we are stretching our definition of a cookie here. Let me explain. A friselle is an italian pepper biscuit. My wife’s grandparents make them from scratch and they are addictive little bites of savory peppery crunch. My wife loves them and her grandparents always save her a bag to take home. The running joke is her dad, or someone else in the family, trying to stash them away.
While these may not be buttery sweet concoctions, who cares?! They are delicious and wicked good beer snacks. The way Nonnie and Poppie make them they are small - a bit smaller than say the size of a walnut - but they are packed with flavor and spice. They have a ton of pepper and that hits you right away, they are very simple in their recipe but they definitely fit the bill for a once you start it's hard to stop kind of snack.
The Pairing: The friselle begs for an accompanying drink. They are kind of dry and crunchy and crumbly as well as being a bit spicy from all the black pepper, so flavor wise and crumb wise, you are really looking for some refreshment while eating them. The light crisp simple nature of the Wit beer is a perfect match for that. A bigger or more bitter beer might be really unpleasant with all the pepper, so this lighter wheaty bready beer balances out the acidic taste profile. We had a lot of fun sipping this beer and crunching on some friselles.
Maybe I can get a tutorial on how to make them from Nonnie and Poppie and share that on the blog, until then, cheers!
