KOVAL & Horse Thief Hollow Collaboration Dinner

Last week I went to an exclusive tasting dinner organized by America's Best Racing (ABR). ABR is a platform designed to increase awareness of North America's best thoroughbred racing events. They even have a luxury "ABRV," a coach bus that travels around the country to major racing events including the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes. The tasting dinner included roundtrip transportation on the ABRV, which just so happens to be the same bus the University of Kentucky men's basketball team uses. I must say, the bus was pretty badass. I felt like I was in a boy band.

The ABRV

My Friend Sharon and Me on the ABRV

I joined fellow Chicago bloggers, including my friends Tammy from Chicago Bites, and Christina from Chritiques, on a luxurious bus ride to the Beverly neighborhood of Chicago. I can't say any of us have ever been to Beverly, so it was a good excuse to check out a new 'hood.

Why were we headed to Beverly? It's the site of Horse Thief Hollow Brewing. The name for the far South brewery comes from the history of the area. In the 1850s, Beverly was known as the "Horse Thief Hollow" because horses stolen from Missouri brought for selling in Chicago were hidden in the dense forest of the area. The brewery played host for our three course dinner which featured a variety of dishes paired with Horse Thief beers and spirits from Andersonville's KOVAL Distillery.

Horse Thief Hollow Brewing

The History of Horse Thief Hollow

Once we arrived at the brewery, we kicked things off with a private brewery tour from owner Neil. He explained how they are already having to expand their production and are about to install larger tanks. Definitely a great problem to have!

Horse Thief Hollow Owner Neil

Three Course Dinner Menu

The first dinner course was Koval Bourbon glazed gulf shrimp topped with toasted sweet corn. The shrimp sat atop a smoked beefsteak tomato, which, if I had been blindfolded, could have easily been mistaken for a slice of smoked salmon. It had a rich smokey flavor. Each course was paired with a Horse Thief Hollow beer. For this course, we had the 6410 Citra Wheat German Hefeweizen. This was my favorite beer of the night because it has a ton of Citra hops. I kind of have a thing for Citra hops.

Koval Bourbon Glazed Gulf Shrimp

Next up was a roasted pork  tenderloin wit a sour cherry dijon sauce. The pork sat atop beer-braised fennel and smoked potato puree. This course was paired with a Koval Rye Whiskey cocktail with housemade ginger ale and Monmorency cherry. Obviously the cherry cocktail paired nicely with the cherry sauce drizzled on the pork. Fruit and pork is always a great pairing.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin

Lastly, we had a sweet biscuit topped with grilled New Haven peaches, and Koval Bourbon whipped cream. You could DEFINITELY taste the whiskey in that whip! The peaches were phenomenal with it. It was the perfect fresh summer dessert. This course was paired with the Borrowed Horses English Barleywine aged in Catacocin Creek Whiskey Barrels. Barleywine = high alcohol and this one came in at a respectable 12.4% ABV. Needless to say, we were all giggles.

Sweet Biscuit with Grilled Peaches & Bourbon Whipped Cream

Overall, the collaboration dinner was a heck of a time. We were even lucky enough to enjoy live bluegrass music during our dinner as well. It was a blast meeting new bloggers and seeing familiar faces as well, and I always love checking out a new area of the city. Thanks to America's Best Racing, Horse Thief Hollow, and KOVAL Distillery for hosting us!

Note: my meal at Horse Thief Hollow was complimentary; however, the opinions expressed herein are my own.

Horse Thief Hollow
www.horsethiefbrewing.com
10426 S. Western Ave
Chicago, IL 60643


KOVAL Distillery
www.koval-distillery.com
5121 N. Ravenswood Ave
Chicago, IL 60640