Tuesday night, Twisted Pine Brewery put on an event with Gerry Leary from Unseen Bean to try out paired beers and bites--blindfolded!  It was such a fun event and I really think it changed the perspectives of food-beer pairing to those that attended. Gerry roasts coffee in Lafayette and runs the local coffee shop off Pearl Street in Boulder. Twisted Pine uses his coffee for their gold medal winning Big Shot Espresso Stout. It's a delicious beer. 
Born blind, Gerry relies on his sense of smell, feeling, and taste to brew his coffee. At the event he expertly guided the blindfolded participants to thinking and talking about what they were tasting; describing  the texture, flavors, and smells of the cheeses selected from The Cheese Course.  Kay Witkiewicz and Justin Tilotta, of Twisted Pine Brewery,  gave more insight about the Twisted Pine brews and why the unique cheeses were chosen for the pairs. They went into the brewing process and why some flavors stand out in their beers when paired with the cheeses. As the last (and my favorite) course, Twisted Pine's Twisted Tiger Weizenbock was paired with Unseen Bean's coffee chocolate bars. A shockingly awesome combination. To the locals, I highly recommend going out and buying both to try for yourself. YUM.
Everyone had the chance to speak freely about what they were experiencing as a group and what their guesses were on what they were tasting. Some had some very lucky guesses on the cheeses, while other times it was really hard to put a finger on what kind of beers they were drinking. Gerry thanked everyone for giving up there one most-relied-on-sense for the night and for experiencing pairing in a new way. I really enjoyed this event and I hope to participate in something like this again!