Field Brewing Brings Alan Sternberg and Rian Umbach Together for a Special Beer Dinner on Feb. 21

Field Brewing Brings Alan Sternberg and Rian Umbach Together for a Special Beer Dinner on Feb. 21

by Mark E. Lasbury for Indiana On Tap

Every brewery that does food takes their menu seriously (OK, except for those places with the $50 can of soup that comes with a T-shirt just to meet the minimum requirements of the law). That being said, there are also those establishments which are really excellent restaurants that also just happen to make beer (not so much in Indiana).

All that being said, it’s always a good find when you see a brewery that takes it beer seriously and takes its food just as seriously. One such establishment is Field Brewing at 303 E. Main Street in Westfield. This craft brewery and scratch kitchen has built quite a reputation, not only for their award-winning beers, but also for their field-to-fork recipes and seasonal menus.

image credit: Field Brewing

Head Brewer Rian Umbach, devout Cincinnati Bengal fan and former brewer at the Christian Moerlein Lager House in that city, was the first choice for head brewer at Field when it opened in 2018 (I remember drinking his first batch of Center Field Pale Ale at the Union Brewing Firkin Fest that year). He has built a great list of core, seasonal and one off beers, including several medal winners, like his Night Game Dunkel, his Dill Pickle Sour, his Saison Du Champ Ouest (my personal favorite), and the 2nd place Best in Show beer from the 2022 Indiana Brewers Cup, the Shift Change IPA (Walter’s favorite).

The Field Brewing kitchen opened in 2018 with similar fanfare, featuring local culinary stud Alan Sternberg as Executive Chef. He developed a menu that focused on clean, tasty recipes featuring top quality local and seasonal ingredients, used in ways that help the diner find new ways of enjoying old favorites. After he established the reputation and direction of Field, Alan moved on to different challenges in cooking, and has had success at all levels. He entered the local food scene after graduating in 2010, and has since won many awards and has directed many successful enterprises, including Cerulean, I Heart Pasta, and Iozzo’s Garden of Italy. Along the way, he was named a James Beard Rising Star semi-finalist not once, but twice.

image credit: Field Brewing

Now Alan has returned to Field Brewing as the Director of Operations and next week (Tuesday, Feb. 21 from 6-9pm) he and Rian will join forces for the latest Field Brewing Beer Dinner. You can get tickets here to take part in the five-course dinner with beer pairings from Rian, and lots of insider information from both Alan and Rian, including how they worked to come up with these pairings and how the beers always play a role in development of the menu. You’ll understand that you need to get your tickets soon when you see the menu tease listed below:

Snack (before course 1) – Corn & oyster fritter with a hot sauce aioli paired with Field’s Pilsner

Course 2 – Orchiette pasta (a Sternberg  specialty) with Chicken and Red Bean Ragu and braised collard greens paired with a NEW fruited cold IPA

Course 3 – Swordfish with braised clams, grilled mushroom, creole dashi butter (what?! that’s like three cuisines right there) and sorrel (a microgreen) paired with the Off Season Wheat

Course 5 – Chocolate and Hazelnut Beignets paired with Coffee Stout

I left out some of the bigger surprises and some of the award-winning beers, so you’ll have to go to the website and check out the full menu for yourself. I’m looking forward to the food, the beer, and the conversation with a couple of stars in their “Fields” and a communal table of 20 or so fellow foodies and craft beer fans. Come join them this coming Tuesday, and for their monthly beer dinners throughout the winter.

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