Great Divide 20th Anniversary Belgian-Style Ale + Poppyseed Chicken Casserole

It poured a beautiful golden straw color with a spritzy effervescent head. The nose was yeasty and funky with a hint of clove. Medium-bodied, the palate echoed those flavors along with notes of water cracker, banana bread, and spice. I made sure to swirl up the yeast in the bottom of the bottle and topped off my glass. That's my favorite part.....AND it's good for you! I detect the viognier juice in that it creates a nice backbone to support everything else the malts and yeast have brought to the table. 

We decided to make a comfort food to accompany this beer, and it was a wonderful match. Read on...

It is no secret that Great Divide Brewing Co. is my favorite brewery. Their Yeti Imperial Stout is what inspired me to start home brewing! And I am forever grateful for that. So when I found this gem while on holiday in Atlanta, I had to have it. It's a Belgian Golden Ale brewed with Viognier grape juice. Did I mention I love a nice Viognier? Oh yeah. Let's do this.

The spritzy effervescence of the beer helped cut thru the creamy richness of this dish. The fruity components of the beer was a nice contrast to the flavorful rich sauce of the casserole. The topping on the casserole is crumbled buttered Ritz crackers, so when you got a bite of casserole along with the crackers, the beer melted into the flavor of the crackers, essentially, highlighting the belgian flavors and viognier juice in the beer. This all lead up to the palate being cleansed by the spritzy carbonation of the ale so you could enjoy bite after bite after bite....want to recreate this recipe? See below! Cheers. 

Poppyseed Chicken

Ingredients:
3 chicken breasts (boiled & shredded)
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 10oz can cream of chicken & mushroom soup
1 16oz container light sour cream
2 tablespoons poppyseeds
package of Ritz Crackers
1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil chicken & bouillon cube until chicken is cooked thru & tender. Shred. In another bowl, combine can of cream of chicken & mushroom soup with the container of sour cream. Add 1 TBsp poppy seeds. Add chicken. Once it's all mixed together, put into a baking dish & top with Ritz Crackers. Drizzle butter & 1 TBsp poppy seeds on top. Bake for 30 minutes. Serves 4!