Chicagoist's Beer of the Week: Pecatonica Brewing's Nightfall Lager

By Jason Baldacci in Food on Aug 16, 2013 8:20PM

This week, we got a chance to check out the first offering from a brand, spanking new brewery out of Wisconsin. How new is brand, spanking new? These guys brewed their first official batch in June of this year, and only started selling beer about a week ago.

Pecatonica Brewing Co, which is named after the river that bordered the property of the farm the brewers grew up on, just released a dark lager called Nightfall. It pours a deep amber, almost ruby color in the glass, with prominent notes of roasted malts on the nose. That maltiness stays strong throughout the palate, and we picked up a bit of bitter cocoa right up front. There's a hint of toasted walnut and caramel in the center, and a nice touch of coffee on a pretty clean finish. While Nightfall is definitely a malt-forward beer, it's also quite dry overall, and the whole thing is backed up with some earthy, floral hops. At 5.9 percent alcohol content, Nightfall is full-bodied, yet very drinkable.

Nightfall would be a great pairing for burgers, and most other things that might come off of a grill. The roasty notes in the beer would play perfectly with the char on the meat, and if you're a fan of BBQ sauce or a similar condiment on your burger, the coffee tones in the beer would be the icing on the cake. It's not all about meat though, Nightfall is a beer that can stand up well against spices. We'd probably shy away from anything that was too hot, but foods that are cooked with things like cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, or cumin have wonderful potential. A Moroccan-Style tagine could be perfect, or possibly even a Tikka Masala, as long as you don't go crazy with the paprika.

Nightfall Lager is available in bottles and on draft, check beermenus.com to see where you can find it in your neighborhood this weekend.