Pairing the Perfect Party

By Michael C. Upton | Photography by Jordan Bush

September-October 2024

Cars line the roads surrounding Bryan Campbell’s farmhouse. The circa 1868 home is part of the Lancaster County phenomena whereby an old building is saved as new construction springs up in the fields formerly surrounding it, and Bryan has taken on the task of maintenance and renovation. Like me, the occupants of the cars have arrived to take part in the area’s most epic beer dinner that will include tastings of 16 beers paired with cheeses, appetizers, a main course, dessert and an intriguing guest list, not to mention a cast of volunteer servers and kitchen staff. It is a night to remember!

 “He’s cool, and he knows a lot about beer,” was the preface a friend provided before  introducing me to Bryan. That evening, at my house, we spent hours recalling beer experiences and hashing out our most memorable brews, like Thomas Hardy’s Ale. Honestly, I like this obscure British ale because I favor the Victorian novelist. Bryan, however, is not only familiar with the beer, but he also has a definite opinion on which vintages are best, knows the history of the brewery, and has several bottles aging in his basement he will only crack open when in the company of one of his best friends.

Bryan brought a couple of stouts and Belgians with him. These have been aging for special occasions, and I soon learn this is just the tip of the beer iceberg. Bryan is a man driven by the history and culture of brewing, who relishes the unique characteristics of every beer and definitely enjoys the social aspect it helps create. 

“I have a party every year …,” started Bryan. And I was in.

“There’s a little bit of social engineering going on. I try to connect or invite certain people, so they all end up talking.”
– Bryan Campbell, party host

PLOTTING THE EVENING

As we walked through Downtown Lancaster, talking about his annual event, Bryan explained, “I don’t know the start of the process. It might happen when I walk into a brewery or find a good beer and I will start thinking about the next party.” His approach makes sense, since he fell in love with beer almost by accident. 

In 1994, he was in the process of building a guitar and one night while the glue was drying, he and his friend, Pete Bohling, headed to Russell’s Restaurant to kill some time. The now defunct eatery in Bloomsburg crafted a beer list requiring a three-ring binder. Seeing the array of options, Bryan became intrigued with and was soon entrapped in the world of import beers. For years, the friends made return visits. “We would go through the list and do vertical tastings because Russell’s had all these beers we had never tried,” recalled Bryan.

For his annual gathering, he starts by acquiring beers in volume. “At some point, I assemble what I think will be a good mix,” he explained. “I try and find a mix good for people who really know beer, but at the same time something for those who may find a beer that invites them into something new and different.”

COLLECTING THE BEER

A month before the party, Bryan and I ventured to the beer store to pick up the last cases. He is on a first-name basis with the folks at Shangy’s The Beer Authority, the epic beer store 70+ miles northeast of Lancaster, in Emmaus. For decades, before the rise in popularity of “craft beer,” when the little guys of brewing were still called microbreweries, Shangy’s was what its name implies: the authority. For beer fans, Shangy’s was (and still is) the home of something completely new, something hard to find. The over-sized beer mart boasts more than 4,000 cans and bottles in stock and claims to have been voted “America’s Finest Beer Store.” I cannot argue with this. Shangy’s turns the beer lover into a kid in a candy store.

Bryan and I headed back to the walls of imports that are off to the left of the 60-tap tasting counter. With beers stacked floor to ceiling and separated by region, it takes us several minutes to even cover a few feet as we discuss different styles, compare similar brands and ultimately find a few things neither of us have ever seen – our selections go into a grocery cart. Meanwhile, a hand truck with a couple of cases appears back at the tasting counter. Bryan’s order begins to burgeon. On top of the cases from St. Bernardus, Trappistes Rochefort and Unibroue, sits an out-of-place 30-pack of Hamm’s. I am intrigued to see how this fits in with Bryan’s plans.

After about an hour of perusing the aisles, adding a few more singles and six-packs to our cart, manager Matt Zehnder rounds the corner to find us. Bryan’s order – now requiring two dollies – is ready, but he wants to talk beer. And so, we do. Matt is eager to make some additional recommendations and welcomes us into the warehouse filled with seemingly unending rows of beer. Feeling like an entourage member with a VIP, I trail behind the two aficionados while they rattle off experiences, consider vintages, and ultimately find another case Bryan needs to add to his order. I have been writing about beer, wine and spirits for more than 25 years, but these guys live and breathe yeast, barley, water and hops! What they know, remember, and even have forgotten, is impressive.

ATTENDING CHEESE NIGHT

A couple of weeks before the party, Bryan assembles a core group of attendees at his house to taste a selection of cheeses and devise pairings with more than a dozen beers. By now, Bryan has whittled down his list of potential libations, but wants the eyes, ears and tastebuds of an esteemed few to put the menu in ink. Gathered on a Saturday night in March, Tom Campbell (Bryan’s brother), Evan Major (Bryan’s neighbor), Ray Dewar (Bryan’s neighbor and family friend), and Ben Weiss and Ella Usdin (owners of Susquehanna Sustainable Enterprises at Central Market) taste and talk cheese – and beer – around Bryan’s dining room table. 

The retinue for cheese night can change year by year, and in 2024 some key names are missing. “Eric Usner is a critical part of this. There are so many people who are important to this event. Ideas need to be created, tested and explored. And then they need to be executed. Eric is part of the group that creates the ideas, and he also helps make the evening happen,” explained Bryan. Also missing this year is Dan Mentzer, former owner of the house whose family had lived here for more than 100 years. 

Most of the cheeses arrive with Bill Mandros, a party staple and “an enthusiastic collaborator,” added Bryan. Bill’s shop, Mandros Imported Foods on the corner of Lemon and Charlotte streets in Lancaster, handles between 125 and 150 diverse types of cheeses. A walking encyclopedia of fromage, Bill brings Michelin Guide knowledge with a working man’s disposition.

Fifteen cheeses, displayed on live-edge wooden planks across the dining table, hail from all over the world. The exercise in flavors allows the group to figure out how a smoked black lager from Germany is elevated by an English cheddar, or how a French sheep’s milk cheese bounces against the palate while drinking a Flemish red from Connecticut. The task of the evening is to consider guests’ palates, making sure not to “blow people out of the water” after the first of many pairings.

PAIRINGS IN ACTION

As soon as I arrive on party night, I check out the menu. There is the Hamm’s. It is beer number one of 16 for the evening’s tastings. The legacy brand’s Minnesota-born recipe is now brewed by powerhouse Molson Coors and serves as the evening’s opening salvo. Hamm’s is a beer recognized for its place in American brewing history, when the big producers were in fact regional brands appealing to the wants and desires of the blue-collar folks building the nation. Beer serves as a human connection in the annals of history, as well as here in Bryan’s Lampeter home. Blurring culinary contrasts, Bryan pairs Hamm’s with Alpenblumen from Bavarian cheesemakers Hofkäserei Kraus und Kaeskuche. Aged four months in a rind of dried wildflowers, the cheese immediately stirs chatter amongst guests noticing the colorful display making its way around the crowd.

Volunteers – friends, past invitees or even cheese mongers themselves – carry antique cutting boards and natural wood trays loaded with samples and weave their way through the sea of 50 to 60 people spread about Bryan’s first floor. Tonight’s server-volunteers are Andy Mellinger from Linden Dale Farms and Lindsay Gring, co-owner of Lancaster Pet Bakery. Cheese from Andy’s Ronks farm shows up in round four, after Intangible Ales’ (Enola, PA) Bad News Brew is paired with Le Fribourg A La Crème (Switzerland) and Plan Bee Farm Brewery’s (Poughkeepsie, NY) Tippette meets La Fermière de Méan Charmoix (Belgium).

Bryan likes to age beers. His basement is a cellar, impressively stocked with cases from around the world in varying states of aging. Some are just for his own amusement and others for use at future parties. This year’s Bad News Brew has been aging since 2016. This treat from the depths of Bryan’s collection may be some of the last of its kind in existence. The now defunct collaboration-brew specialists officially retired Bad News Brew before the brewery ceased operations, and the tart, mixed-fermentation ale made with wheat, fresh turmeric and mangosteen is aging exquisitely. The flavors pop in the mouth, and I find myself hoping Bryan has a few more bottles of this stuff tucked away somewhere. 

Next, the Tippette is a low ABV farmhouse ale, and the oak-aged brew with hints of lemon and yeast pair exceptionally with the soft, washed rind cheese from Belgium.

For round four, Andy provides a sampling of his Laughing Lindy cheese. I met Andy’s father years ago when I penned a story on goats for Lancaster County Magazine (September 2013), and I have been a fan of Linden Dale Farms cheeses (found at Central Market) ever since. Laughing Lindy is served on sourdough baked by attendee Janice Longer (who has been practicing law in Lancaster County for over 20 years) and is paired with Tynt Meadow by Mount Saint Bernard Abbey, where “beer should be liquid bread, not colored water.” And so go the pairings as the evening glides along, until the last of the cheeses – Rogue River Blue from Oregon – is offered with a vintage 2013 Gravitation from New Hampshire’s Smuttynose Brewing. After nine decadent beer samples and cheese tastings, incoming tables and chairs temporarily disperse the conversing crowd who eventually find seats for the main course.

HAVING DINNER …

“A whole lot of things have to be in place before the morning of,” says Bryan, when asked about planning dinner. “Depending on the recipe, I might have been cooking all week. I used to get up early Saturday morning and go to Central Market, where Steve Richardson [a friend from Bryan’s Camp Mack counselor days] or Pete would act like market sherpas – there were so many ingredients that needed to be carried around. I’ve gotten better at not having so much to do in the morning.” By late morning on the day of the party friends start showing up at Bryan’s. Someone brought lunch for the crew. Someone brought a nice bottle of bourbon. “I used to have to coordinate everything, but now things seem to run automatically; this group is so good at what they do,” he remarks.

His house – for one night – should draw the attention of the James Beard Foundation. In 2023, his kitchen served a Hungarian-inspired goulash that would make any Central European expat long for home. This year, chevon from Linden Dale Farm takes center stage. Slow roasted in Cabernet until fork-tender, the rich meat is lifted into a crepe with sauteed shiitake mushrooms and painted with a chardonnay-Marsala sauce. The succulent and light entrées are topped with feta and Kalamata olives.

Manning the crepes (one at a time), the sauces and all other things culinary, is a crew made up of Bryan’s friends. Hours before guests start to arrive, Dan, Eric and Tom join Bryan’s childhood friend, Doug Rider, and his brother-in-law, Phil Bernot, in the kitchen. “Those two guys and Steve are like the center of the kitchen,” Bryan notes.

… AND DESSERT

Staying true to the evening’s theme, dessert is mostly in liquid form. Big flavors begin immediately with offerings like Maiden by Lancaster’s Cartel Brewing & Blending – owner Adam Chamberland is here, roaming about, talking beer – and Imperial stouts from Estonia and Missouri. Three Floyds Brewing Company makes Trolls Trolls Trolls in Munster, Indiana, and has been bestowed with the honor of being paired with “Mom’s crème de menthe brownies,” which are the greatest highlight of my evening each year. Bryan’s parents are regular attendees and a source of inspiration. “As parents, they always took advantage of opportunities to expose us to the world beyond home,” recalls Bryan. “And at home, most of our food was homemade by Mom, even bread and pizza.” I have been known to sneak a couple of Mom’s brownies home in a napkin! The jig is up now, I guess.

There are seven after-dinner beers. Most of these are from Bryan’s aging collection. At my table, where the guests have become jovial and splendidly opinionated on beers of their liking, the consensus favorite of the dark samples is Mephistopheles from Avery Brewing Company. Bryan dusted off a case he has been aging since 2016, right before the Boulder, Colorado brewery limited production of the malt-forward stout made with Westmalle Belgian yeast. But the biggest beer was saved for last. Dystopias from Free Will Brewing (Perkasie, PA) is a 20% ABV, barrel-aged strong ale. In 2022, Bryan picked up a couple cases of this beer from its first run and it now punctuates an evening filled with creative culinary selections and amusing merriment.

The beauty of Bryan’s celebration, beyond the uber-impressive beer list, is how it is not a “beer snob” event. Yes, this is an elevated beer party/dinner/pairing, but it is more of a testament to the relationships Bryan has curated over the years. He simply makes sure to gather us all together, which he has done for the past 25 years.

As we talked after the event, walking through Central Market on a random Saturday, Bryan adds, “And, I don’t drink any Thomas Hardy’s unless Pete is around.” Once again, Bryan shows how friendship is the keystone of any memorable occasion.