Thursday night in Marin was delicious, with Brendan Moylan’s newest venture, Noonan’s Bar & Grill, which like Marin Brewing is also located at Larkspur Landing in Larkspur, hosting a beer dinner conceived by head brewer Arne Johnson. Arne put the menu and the pairing together, working with Noonan’s chef Jose Flores.

Arne Johnson sporting his four gold medals won the previous week at the Great American Beer Festival with Brendan Moylan, owner of Marin Brewing.

All of Arne’s pairings were good, but none worked quite as well as his dry, chocolately Pt. Reyes Porter with the pork mole empañadas with fresh cotija cheese.

Brendan Moylan with chef Jose Flores, explaining how he prepared some of the dishes.

The main course; Petaluma duck breast with pale ale braised beet greens, sage & queso fresco polenta and ancho chili orange sauce paired with Arne’s Imperial IPA, White Knuckle. The big hop beer did a great job of stripping the heat from the dish, which is great because I’m a hot spice wuss.

Rodger Davis, formerly of Drake’s, Beer Chef Bruce Paton and Arne Johnson.

After the dinner, Arne opened some special bottles from his personal stash.