Avery beer dinner at Flagstaff House

Now time for the beer pairing rundown

Beer and menu preparation: Chef Mark Monette and Double A sat down to specially select the beer to pair with each of the five-course meals. Each course had a "complement" and "contrast" beer pairing to bring out the elements of each meal.

Sure, you may be thinking that drinking any beer during dinner will suffice, but there is an art to hand-picking which beers will complement which meal. Trust us on this, we learned all about it as the courses came out.

The atmosphere: The Flagstaff House arranged the tables to have community seating. We were at first shocked by this. It seemed more like a wedding reception gone wrong where you felt as if you were trying to catch up with a long-lost uncle you hadn't seen for years. The conversations were awkward at first, but once the beer started to flow, the conversations seemed to get louder and louder. Before you knew it, everyone was best friends with their new table buddies. Ah, the social lubricant finds success yet again.