As the number of women who enjoy a good craft brew continues to grow, Victory Brewing Company has created a series of events to help women enjoy and learn more about beer. Girls Just Wanna Have Suds events at Victory have been occurring about every three months since May of 2011. These events, created by and for women, bring together a sisterhood of beer lovers to mingle, learn and taste.
When I heard the next event was going to feature pairings of Victory beer with Dia Doce Cupcakes, I knew I had to be in that room. Dia Doce, a winner of The Food Network’s Cupcake Wars as well as a local Chester County favorite, was going to pair her tasty treats with Victory’s delicious beers. What more could a girl want?
I could feel the excitement of the women who gathered for this unique event before we even walked in the room. About eighty women were lined up, ready to devour the delectable goodies. When the door opened, I felt like I was in beer and cupcake heaven. There were tables scattered throughout the room, each with a specific pairing. A look at the menu reveals some delicious combinations:
- Heaven and Hell paired with Festbier
- Triple Citrus Creamsicle paired with Helios
- Salted Caramel Malt paired with Baltic Thunder
- Bacon Maple paired with Victory Village
- Toasted Vanilla Bean Marshmallow paired with Scarlet Fire
- Lemon Basil paired with Golden Monkey
- Chocolate Raspberry Truffle paired with Storm King
- Candied Cinnamon Pear paired with V12
Once inside, I ran into a group of friends who had come extra prepared for the evening. Stephanie Massung, a teacher from Royersford, decided to turn the night out with girlfriends into an in depth exploration of taste. She printed out a sheet that listed every pairing, along with spots for beer rating, cupcake rating, and an overall rating for the pairing. Additionally, each participant would choose her favorite cupcake, favorite beer and favorite pairing. What a smart way to keep track of all of the amazing treats we were about to sample!
All of the pairings were enjoyable, but some really stood out to me. The vanilla bean cupcake had a marshmallow topping that was toasted and was paired with Victory Scarlet Fire, which is a smoky beer. The pairing made me feel like I was at a camp-out; all that was missing were the graham crackers!
The bacon maple cupcake, which is a maple cake studded with bacon, topped with real maple syrup and bacon frosting, was paired with Victory Village beer. Victory Village is a brown ale that is blended with coffee from One Village coffee. The result equals a perfect “breakfast” treat.
The heaven and hell cupcake was indeed a surprise. The cupcake was innocent looking enough, chocolate cake with a whipped vanilla frosting. But after I swallowed the cake, a slight burning sensation overcame me. Owner of Dia Doce, Thais Da Silva, casually mentioned with a smile that there were ghost peppers, the hottest peppers in the world, in the batter. It was a good thing I had a Victory Festbier to wash it down. The Festbier was malty and sweet and really calmed down those spicy ghost peppers.
My absolute favorite of the night, though, was the lemon basil cupcake paired with Victory Golden Monkey. The cupcake is a zesty lemon cake filled with a tart lemon cream and topped with basil infused buttercream. The cupcake had the potential to make me pucker, but the tartness was alleviated by the savory punch of the basil and the sweetness of the butter cream. Golden Monkey is one of my all time favorite beers from Victory. It is a Belgian style ale with hints of spices and citrus fruit. They were a perfect complement to each other, and a great way to end my tasting journey.
Stay tuned for the next Girls Just Wanna Have Suds event at Victory, ladies. It will surely be a fun night to explore craft beer while bonding with your girlfriends.
Photographs credited to Nina Lea Photography.
