Board Game Pairing: Dixit And The Poet
If you are looking for a great gateway board game to play with friends this weekend, I suggest Dixit. It is a creative and fun party game that doesn’t require anyone to stand up, act, or generally make a fool of themselves in any way. And because Dixit plays 3 – 8 players, it’s a good option even if your group is small. The game is centered around the storyteller, a role that rotates to each person in succession. As the storyteller, you must select from one of the six cards in your hand and tell a short one to two sentence story about the picture on the card and then place it face down in the middle of the table. Each player then chooses a card from their hand that they think best matches the story and places it face down in the middle of the table. Those cards are shuffled and dealt face up, and then each player, except the storyteller, makes their best guess of which card is the true match to the story. As the storyteller, the trick is to give provide enough information that some of your opponents will figure out your card (resulting in positive points for you), but not so much that they all figure it out (resulting in positive points for everyone else).
To go along with Dixit, I recommend picking up a six pack of The Poet oatmeal stout from New Holland Brewing Company. Stouts are in season, and this stout is a bit quirky like the art on Dixit cards. Further, the name flows with the creative storytelling nature of the game, and the 5.2% ABV will enhance your creativity without hindering your ability to make good choices.
Now for the part I enjoy most: sampling and describing the beer. The Poet pours an opaque black with a sable brown tint around the edges. The single finger head dissipates into random groupings of bubbles, which slowly recede to the sides of the glass. The smell is of roasted grains and coffee with a slight sweetness. Tasting the beer reveals that it is dry with a dominate roasted malt flavor sprinkled with hints of bittersweet chocolate. The beer has very creamy mouth feel, which helps offset the dryness. Overall it’s a good stout. I recommend pouring it into a glass and letting it warm just a touch to bring out more of the sweetness.
Distribution
New Holland Brewing Company is located in Holland, Michigan. Their distribution currently includes most states in the Midwest and East Coast. You can find a bottle of The Poet near by using the New Holland Brew finder.
