Beer and Food

Most people know that red wine goes with heavy foods and meats, where white wine goes well with salads and lighter foods.  One can go further and split it even further by certain vintages of wines with in the reds or the whites.  Believe or not different styles of beers can be paired with foods as well.  Many beer lovers realize that beer with all of it styles actually can be a better match with food than wine.

The best example of this fact is the book " The Brewmaster's Table: Discovering the Pleasures of Real Beer with Real Food" by Garrett Oliver, yes that Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery fame.  Here is a link to purchase the book through Amazon http://www.amazon.com/The-Brewmasters-Table-Discovering-Pleasures/dp/0060005718.  This book goes into great depth explaining how beer and food can be paired together.  In explaining this Mr. Oliver tells how some flavors and attributes in beer can compliment or contrast with the food the beer is paired with.  Some of the beer and food examples he puts forward are classics like oysters and a stout, an IPA with spicy Thai or Mexican foods. 

Another book that looks interesting as well is "The Best of American Beer and Food: Pairing and Cooking with Craft Beer" http://www.amazon.com/The-Best-American-Beer-Food/dp/0937381918/ref=pd_vtp_b_3.  It seems to be worth a look at least.

Besides these books there are numerous websites that have beer and food pairings.  Here are a couple I like http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style_pairings, http://www.craftbeer.com/pages/beer-and-food/pairing-tips/pairing-chart.  There are many more if you just google "beer and food pairings".

Once one has learned about pairing beer with food, they can then delight their family and friends with a beer themed meal or a beer and food tasting.  It could be something as simple as pairing cheese or deserts with beer or something as complicated as a several course meal with a different beer for each course.

My wife and I have been to a couple beer dinners and have enjoyed them very much.  One local brewpub holds a beer dinner approximately each month, our friends at Blue Cat Brewpub http://www.bluecatbrewpub.com/.  Dan and Martha do an excellent job pairing food with their beer.

We are trying to figure out a time and menu so we can host our first beer and food tasting.  Probably we will start out slow with a cheese and beer pairing or go with a dessert and beer pairing.  The most important thing is just to enjoy oneself and remeber it is just beer.

So just do some exploring and find what beer and food sound appealing to you and proceed from there.

QC Beerguy