Restaurant, brewery join forces to create exclusive beer

It took a couple of tries to perfect the final product, but a Kettering craft brewery and a nearby restaurant have unveiled a new beer that was custom-made to match the restaurant’s cuisine.

"Sky Ale" — created by Neil Chabut, founder of Eudora Brewing Company — will be served exclusively at Sky Asian Cuisine. The two businesses are one mile apart on Wilmington Pike south of Stroop Road in Kettering.

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“It was something me and my business partner Tim He always wanted, to have a house craft beer made by a local brewery with an one-of-a kind-recipe — a beer where people can only taste at Sky Asian Cuisine,” said Raymond Chow, co-founder of the restaurant that opened in June.

“We first contacted Neil Chabut last October, and w set up a meeting at the restaurant soon after. We let Neil sample some of our food and let him create the beer recipe based on the food,” Chow said.

“We went through months of sampling different versions and finally agreed on the current version of Sky Ale … it has a wonderful aroma and the right amount of body.”

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Chabut said that after he sampled the restaurant’s dishes with Sky Asian’s founders, he decided to incorporate ginger in the beer “because I thought it would compliment the food well — and they agreed.

“I came back three times, with a slightly tweaked version of the beer each time — I really wanted the beer to be exactly what the owners/managers wanted. By the third visit, we had finally nailed it, and I must say, the result is pretty darn good!

“It’s an amber ale, brewed with real ginger root and honey malt. It’s light in body, smooth and easy to drink, but not lacking in flavor. It’s about 5.5% alcohol and 15 IBUs. Very approachable for the novice craft beer drinker, but also something that a craft connoisseur could appreciate.

“You won’t find it anywhere else but the restaurant — not even at Eudora.”

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