Spice Trade's New Prix Fixe Menu Pairs Flavorful Beers With Latin American Dishes

Jeff Tyler is passionate about beer pairings. Even before co-founding Spice Trade Brewery & Kitchen at 8775 East Orchard Road in Greenwood Village, he hosted beer dinners, but at the restaurant, “they only happened a couple times a year,” Tyler says. “They’re a ton of fun, but we have to close down the dining room, come up with new dishes and beer pairings [each time]. So we wanted our customers to experience this all the time, any time of year, and have that experience curated.”

Now, Spice Trade is introducing a new prix fixe menu that pairs three different dishes from its seasonal menu (currently focused on Latin American fare) with three different beers. Customers can choose one pairing for each of the three courses for $45 per person.

Tyler designed each of the pairings with head brewer Andrew Moore and executive chef James Bland. Here's what's on the menu:

Starters

Ceviche paired with Jalapeño Mexican Lager

What Tyler says: "This is kind of a classic, matching light with light. I think that’s key, since fish can easily be overpowered when you try to pair it with a beverage. The ceviche is such a delicate flavor, so we pair that with our Mexican lager, which is refreshing, but doesn’t quite overpower the dish. The fun part is that you have the jalapeño in the Mexican lager, which provides a kind of pop, a contrast, a little bit of jalapeño spice and flavor."

What we thought: The ceviche was well executed and paired very well with the jalapeño lager, which had a low to low-medium heat to it. The texture, flavor and salt were on point, and the dish was bright, with a good flavor. A great summer patio dish.
Fried plantains paired with Little Umbrella

What Tyler says: "Little Umbrella is a mango-passion fruit wheat beer; it has some sweet tropical freshness to it. This is a complementary pairing — the crispy and sweet fried plantains' sweetness really complements the mango. The beer helps balance out the intensity of both the mojo dipping sauce and the jalapeño dipping sauce."

What we thought: The plantains were plump, crispy and caramelized on the outside while soft and hot on the inside. Our server recommended using both of the dipping sauces at once, as the jalapeño one was a bit spicy, while the mojo sauce had enough acid to combine with the sweetness from the plantains and cut through that heat. That worked so well that about halfway through, we just mixed the sauces together. The fruit flavors in Little Umbrella played off of this dish quite well, too.
Main courses 

Machaka paired with That Amber

What Tyler says: "I see this as kind of a complementary pairing, letting the flavors in the shredded brisket shine. I find the toasty and slightly roasty notes in the amber beer, which is a Vienna lager, help complement that roasty, smoky character in the coffee-rubbed brisket."

What we thought: The brisket in the machaka was smoked to perfection. It was strong without being overpowering. The tortillas, rice and beans were a nice touch, and the pepper sauce on the plate really brought everything together. The malty, slightly nutty and biscuit component in That Amber complemented this dish very well. A pair of plantains was included, which will either help your FOMO if you chose ceviche for your starter, or just give you more of a good thing if you went with the plantains to open your meal.
Jalapeño mussels paired with Thai Tripel

What Tyler Says: "This is kind of a classic play on a Belgian mussel dish, which is usually served with fries and a Belgian beer. The tripel fits well because it’s dry and effervescent with an herbal note, helping it cut through the richness and intensity of the broth, refreshing your palate for another bite."

What we thought: The mussel broth was rich yet delicate, and had a kind of buttery, sweet onion-led flavor with added complexity from the jalapeño lager that is used in the broth. Across the menu, there are three instances of jalapeño being used (first in the jalapeño lager, then the mojo dipping sauce, and finally in the broth), and they all bring a different yet appropriate level of heat that helps accentuate each pairing in a different way. The Thai Tripel has an expressive Belgian yeast, and we found it was better to enjoy several sips of broth and mussels followed by a sip of the beer in order to not overpower the dish.
Dessert

Tres Leches arancini paired with King Montezuma Stout

What Tyler Says: "I love this dessert. It’s topped with our King Montezuma chocolate sauce, which we make in-house, so it was pretty natural to use the King Montezuma beer for the pairing. It’s a contrasting pairing with complementary notes. You have this sweet, sugary, rich arancini contrasted by a robust, dark-chocolate flavor and kind of viscous sweetness from the vanilla and cinnamon in King Montezuma."

What we thought: King Montezuma is a big beer, clocking in at 12 percent ABV. In a way, this beer sort of defines what Spice Trade is all about. It’s chocolate-heavy, as you’d expect from a modern imperial stout, but the underlying vanilla, cinnamon and peppers provide depth. The flavors are not overpowering; when you go to a typical brewery and see ingredients like this in a stout, you often expect to be hit over the head with those flavors. At Spice Trade, the expectation is that these flavors blend in with the beer; they’re harmonious. It doesn’t wear the palate out as quickly, making it the perfect type of beer for these food pairings.
Beer chocolates paired with Baltic Porter

What Tyler Says: "Temper Chocolates, located in the Denver Central Market, makes beer-infused bonbons for us, which are these really delicate, thin chocolate shells with a mousse-like filling. They infuse four different beers that we make into the chocolates. So this is a complementary pairing with our Baltic Porter, which is a lager. The porter has chocolate and molasses notes, and it balances the sweetness in the chocolate without overpowering the more subtle flavors in there."

What we thought: Rich and flavorful; we loved the gooey infused chocolate. The porter was malty, with a touch of roast and a hint of dark fruit, and it added another layer to the chocolates.

Closing thoughts

The big sun sails on the patio, and a consistent breeze helped bring the best qualities of a California wine bar to Spice Trade. This prix fixe menu really plays into that, especially if you go with the ceviche and mussels in the pairing. It felt like a beer dinner without all the hoopla of an attentive crowd, long speeches and group seating. It’s great that beer people can get an experience that the wine crowd has been able to access for decades.

Even after tasting all the pairings, Havana Nights was too tempting to pass up for a night cap. It’s an English-style brown ale, brewed with a mix of cedar, smoked Chinese tea, cascara and a blend of spices. This was the beer equivalent of having a cigar after dessert. 

What’s next?

The prix fixe menu will rotate a few times a year along with the seasonal menu, so new pairings are never too far away. The Saturday and Sunday brunch menu is following suit, with Latin American-themed dishes available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Tyler isn’t replacing the beer dinners he’s so passionate about, either. Those will still take place throughout the year. The next is a five-course Moroccan-themed pairing on Wednesday, August 16. Tickets will be available later this month.

Spice Trade also offers a regular pub menu for less adventurous eaters that includes a classic cheeseburger, a fried chicken sandwich and Bavarian pretzels.