- FOOD AND BEER PAIRING -

Have you ever pondered which area beer pairs up best with pork adobo, or whether Victory Prima Pils or Stoudt's Pils is the perfect partner for smoked trout on pumpernickel toast? If so you are not alone. With the ever-increasing availability of high-quality handcrafted brew, more and more people today are appreciating the centuries-old tradition of pairing food with beer to enhance the flavors of both. As Garrett Oliver states in his authoritative book, The Brewmaster’s Table: Discovering the Pleasures of Real Beer with Real Food, “Real beer can do amazing things with food, and it goes places where wine cannot go…and unlike wine, it’s an affordable luxury.”

Although there are some solid, basic principles to successful pairings, the fact of the matter is that flavors and their impressions can complement or contrast. Because the guidelines are flexible, the range of delicious combinations that can be created is virtually unlimited. Going far beyond typical bar food, craft beer can be spectacularly combined with sweet and savory dishes—appetizers, main courses, and desserts!

Few people are more adept at the art of food/beer pairing than the gourmet chefs and master brewers that participate in the Brewer’s Plate. In past years for example, they have given us such delights as:

• Chilled lime marinated shrimp with mango salsa & Iron Hill’s Cannibal
• Slow grilled beef brisket with blackened tomatillo sauce & Victory
  St. Boisterous
• Brown ale mousse and almond cake with sautéed pears & McKenzie Dunkelweizen
• Local wild mushroom pate with truffle oil & Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale or
  Sly Fox Saison (there isn’t always just one best choice!)

In addition, because these qualified experts are on hand serving their own creations, if you have any questions about why they made the choices they did, you can ask them.

If you’d like to know more about pairing food and beer, the book mentioned above—The Brewmaster’s Table—is a great resource. There are also some excellent websites such as beeradvocate.com, beertown.org, and realbeer.com that discuss both the principles and specific pairing ideas.