DAYTON, Ohio — Pairing food with wine is a no-brainer. Most fine restaurants around the country are set up with menus and wine lists to make it work to palate-pleasing perfection, but for most serious foodies and the places they frequent, beer can be an afterthought.
Often viewed as unsophisticated, beer has for years been relegated to bar food. But if you listen to outspoken beer authorities such as Garrett Oliver, author of "The Brewmaster's Table: Discovering the Pleasures of Real Beer With Real Food" and brewmaster of Brooklyn Brewing, beer is where it's at, thanks to the wide range of flavors and variations it can be procured in.
 PHIL SKINNER/Cox News Service What beer will pair well with what dish? Most experts agree that experimenting and imagination are key to finding out which pairing will work best for you. For a larger, high resolution image, click HERE |
Recently, craft beers have been making the trek from trendy bars to top-shelf dining establishments. DeepWood restaurant in Columbus is one such place.
Colin Vent, sous chef at DeepWood, has experience with beer pairings and creating beer and wine dinner menus, experimenting with dishes to see what goes best with different beers to create an experience diners' taste buds won't soon forget. Bob Gera, Mid-Atlantic divisional sales manager for the Global Brewers Guild, recently worked with Vent to put on a beer dinner at DeepWood that showcased six Rogue beers from the popular Oregon craft beer brewer.
We spoke to Vent and Gera to ask some questions about beer pairing for those who are interested in experimenting at home on their own time.
Q When planning a beer dinner like those you've done at DeepWood, is it important for the beers or courses to be linked in some way or is it a make-it-up-as-you-go-along proposition?
Vent: I generally pick my beverage courses first, and then plan my foods to suit the beer or wine I'd chosen for each course.
I typically think of the meal as a sort of arc, starting light, clean or bright on the palate, and then ramping up the richness or intensity of flavors and textures toward the main course(s), and then easing off again through a cheese course and dessert.
Q How do you come up with your menus?
Vent: When a producer comes to us with their products and says, "Let's do a dinner," DeepWood chef Brian Pawlak and I will sit down and taste the beers or wines we're going to feature, and talk.
Gera: Beer dinners are at the preparers' discretion. Treat it like a normal dinner. Typically, you would want to start lighter and work your way up.
Q Is there a way beer should be served to best help with flavor and pairing with food?
Vent: The mega beer conglomerates who sell 90 percent of the world's beer advocate drinking their products as cold as possible. This has misled most people into thinking all beer should be consumed ice-cold ...
Ales really should be drunk a bit warmer, closer to cellar temperatures, like red wines. If the beer is too cold, it deadens the flavor and aroma. As the beer warms, those characteristics start to come out.
Gera: Blonde Ales/Wheat Ales/Lightly Hopped Lagers (light, thirst-quenching) pair well with spicy-hot foods.
Bocks/Dark Lagers/Octoberfest/Marzen (caramel, toffee) pair well with grilled meats or salted/cured meats and hot mustards.
Ales (Bitter, Pale, IPA)/German Pilsners (hop-focused, bitter) pair well with rich sauces, oil-rich/fatty foods, highly acidic sauces/condiments.
Amber Ales (malt body, hop finish) pair well with barbecue and some Mexican and Thai.
Porters/Stouts (sweet to bitter) pair well with grilled meats, heavy sauces, oysters and desserts.
Lambics (dry, tart, acidic) pair well with seafood, poultry, cream sauces and desserts.
Q Is there a way to substitute beers for wines if you're throwing a party using both? We've heard ales can sub as red wines and lagers as whites.
Vent: While there's no hard and fast rule for swapping a beer for a wine, those aren't bad guidelines.
The problem is that ales and lagers are each huge categories with a hundred different beer styles contained in them. It's important to keep in mind that no beer is going to taste like a Pinot Blanc, or a Merlot, or a Bordeaux. Instead realize that there are beers that share certain characteristics; British beers often have an earthiness due to the water they use, not unlike dry whites. Stouts can show smoke, chocolate, char, coffee and deep-red fruits like plums and figs, which would make them analogous to French reds and California Cabs.
Gera: To substitute beers for wines, there isn't one set rule. Beers actually pair better than wines due to the variety of beer flavors, bodies and styles. With wine, you have only grapes to work with. With beer, you can have a beer brewed with grapes and even aged in wine barrels, but that is only the beginning. Beers are cooked, made with grains, can be smoked, just like food. It is a natural fit.
Q What are some resources folks can turn to for more information?
Vent: The book "The Brewmaster's Table: Discovering the Pleasures of Real Beer With Real Food" by Garrett Oliver the head brewer of Brooklyn Brewery is a great start.
The beer forum, Beer Advocate, has a section dedicated to beer and food (beeradvocate.com/forum/list/3) and many people who're open to answering questions.
Check your favorite brewer's Web sites, many of them will have suggestions for foods to match up with their products as well as specific temperatures and glassware recommendations.
Q What's your best suggestion about pairing beer with various meals or individual dishes?
Vent: Experiment!
Gera: Remember, there is no such thing as one perfect pairing, but there are a few things to keep in mind.
Region: If a beer is from a particular region, pair it with food from that region; Abita from New Orleans will go great with Creole foods.
Preparation: If a beer is used in the preparation (marinade, reduction, glaze), that beer will pair with the food.
Intensity: Match beer strength with food strength: stronger-flavored food with stronger-flavored beers.
Imagination: Use your imagination; don't overthink it and use your palate as a guide.
Alexis Larsen writes for the Dayton Daily News. E-mail: alarsen AT daytondailynews.com
