Food & Beer Pairings

[Susan in FL]

What are some of the best food and beer matches you've tasted?

Several stand out for me, and I'll probably have a lot of on-going discoveries to report, but I'll start with this one we enjoyed last night.

A favorite match-up for us is Grilled Bread with Catalan Butter with IPA. This spread is so good, I made a link to the recipe, in case anybody wants to try it. My only modification to this recipe is to use less lemon juice. As written, it is just a little too sour for our tastes.

Last night the IPA was the Dry Hopped -- OOOPS, I just realized this is not labeled as an IPA! -- River Horse Hop Hazard Pale Ale. Well, nevertheless, it was a great pairing!

We also love IPA with various garlicky bruschettas.

[naguere]

In Dublin:

Boiled bacon, boiled cabbage and very large floury potatoes boiled in their skins and then broken open then lumps of butter added along with bottles of Guiness. The Guiness seemed to intensify the taste of the food.

[TongoRad]

Raw oysters with stout- simultaneously- an absolute classic!

[Susan in FL]

In Dublin:

Boiled bacon, boiled cabbage and very large floury potatoes boiled in their skins and then broken open  then lumps of butter added along with bottles of Guiness. The Guiness seemed to intensify the taste of the food.

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Am I correct in assuming that you meant to add that you drink stout along with this dish? Or do you prefer another beer with it? ...Sounds interesting, and good!

Raw oysters with stout- simultaneously- an absolute classic!

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Oh yes!

[Rich Pawlak]

Some of my all-time fave pairings:

Middle Eastern/Turkish/Aghan/Persian shish kabob

or

Greek Souvlaki

or

Hummus, babaganoush, fatoush salad, paired with Dogfish Head Aprihop;

Red gravy Italian and Tsing Tsao;

Malaysian dishes like beef Randang with Dogfish Head Liquor De Malt;

Spicy Sechuan dishes like beef with dried bean curd or chicken/shrimp with black bean sauce, with Victory Prima Pils or Pilsner Urquell;

Cheesy nachos and Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin ale;

BBQ brisket and/or pulled pork with Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or Yards Philly Pale Ale

and for dessert:

Creme brulee and Ommegang Brown Ale.

[Prepcook]

A New favorite, just discovered last night.

Napoleon from a local bakery and 2005 Big Foot Barleywine.

Nice ending to a great dinner.

[Susan in FL]

And an old favorite is Tiramisu and Millenium.

[BrentKulman]

A New favorite, just discovered last night.   

Napoleon from a local bakery and 2005 Big Foot Barleywine.

Nice ending to a great dinner.

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Wow, I never would have thought that a hoppy barleywine like Big Foot could be paired with a sweet pastry. That's really interesting as I would have paired the Naploean with a sweeter barleywine like Old Foghorn, had I thought of the combination.

[Chops]

My favorite dessert paring is a rich Chocolate Chees pie or Chocolate cake and Lindeman's Framboise. A close second is a classic cheese cake and Rogue Chocolate Stout.

[TongoRad]

Re: the Sierra Nevada Bigfoot paired with something sweet-

The other night I was snacking on some black pepper papadum with loads of date/tamarind chutney and decided to give the ol'Bigfoot a try. Surprisingly it was a completely neutral pairing, like the immovable object versus the immovable object, lots of strong flavors and sensations but nothing budging. Obviously one can always do a whole lot worse than a neutral pairing, but this one did not reach the levels that I had hoped.

And I have another one from the 'obvious file'-

Porterhouse steak with, well..., porter (Fuller's London Porter, preferably).

[Susan in FL]

Since we drink oatmeal stout almost always with breakfast or brunch, instead of lunch or dinner, I have been wanting to try pairing an oatmeal stout with a savory preparation of oatmeal. Thursday night we drank Anderson Valley Barney Flats oatmeal stout with Turkey Thighs in Red Wine Garlic Sauce & Oatmeal "Polenta Style." It's a recipe from Wine Spectator's section of "Wine-Friendly Recipes," suggested for drinking Zinfandel. It was the second time I made this food, and this time the turkey part wasn't as good, but the oatmeal and the oatmeal stout... oh my. Very nice matching flavors, and creaminess in each.

[dockhl]

A la Elliott's Oyster House in Seattle:

Kumamoto oyters,raw) and Mac and Jack's African Amber Ale.................ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

[stephenc]

Macaroni and Cheese and PBR.

[emhahn]

An ice cold Molson with a bag of potato chips!

All American? Well, I don't really know..... but that's the way my dad used to like it!

Eric

RestaurantEdge.com

[Rich Pawlak]

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and BBQ potato chips!

and, well, BBQ , too......

[beergirl]

A few days prior to the 2002 Real Ale Festival in Chicago, there was a special event called the Real Ale Feast at the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago (review by Lucy Saunders). While all the pairings were good the final was outstanding. I've never forgotten what a surprise it was to all there. The grand finale was carrot cake with cream cheese frosting served with Dogfish Head 90-Minute IPA.

[Susan in FL]

A few days prior to the 2002 Real Ale Festival in Chicago, there was a special event called the Real Ale Feast at the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago (review by Lucy Saunders).  While all the pairings were good the final was outstanding.  I've never forgotten what a surprise it was to all there.  The grand finale was carrot cake with cream cheese frosting served with Dogfish Head 90-Minute IPA.

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That is so good to know. We are always interested in trying new pairings, and have a few 90-Minute IPAs put away. Thanks also for the link. I bookmarked BeerCook.com. Great site!

[PDC]

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout and brownies. That's my winter holiday-time dessert.

There was also a bar 8th avenue in NYC between 46th and 47th street called Scruffy Duffy's that had super buffalo wings that I used to wash down with Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Unfortunately, they appear to have switched owners or something because the wings have slipped in quality and they no longer have Sierra Nevada. They replaced it with Smithwicks (WTF???)

[nr706]

On vacation in Portland (the east coast one) I had grilled foie gras with a light balsamic sauce at Fore Street, paired with an Allagash White (Maine's excellent version of a hefeweizen). So good, it almost made me forget all the great lobster on the trip.

[mtigges]

I went to a beer/food pairing tasting last night. The beers featured were all from R&B Brewing, a local micro here in Vancouver. Alison the brewer is just about the nicest person I have ever met, and the most attractive brewer to boot! All the food was delicious and paired very well.

Course 1. Sambuca spinach oyster rockefeller, paired with their Kristal Weizen. This beer has shown very well at GCBF. It's their favourite. Due to the filtering this beer is bright, and lacks an assertive phenolic clove flavour. The effects of the bavarian yeast are there, just more subdued.

Course 2. Goat feta and mixed green salad, raspberry (I'm pretty sure they said raspberry, but it wasn't very assertive) vinagrette. This was paired with the Pilsner. IMO this is their best beer. A classic pilsner. Our water is pretty good for proper brewing of Pilsner, I don't think Alison treats the water.

Course 3. Pork tenderloin with Jalapeno jelly and cornbread. This was served with their Pale Ale. Their's is a pretty standard American style pale ale. Right in the middle of the road with bitterness and hop flavour/aroma. IMO, this was the weakest pairing. The spiciness of the jelly was too assertive and influencing on the flavour of the beer. I feel their IPA would have been a better choice.

Course 4. Beef brisket, barbecue flavour, cole slaw and potatoe salad, sides. An amber was a great choice for this. On a colder day I think Porter would have been great, but we were on a warm patio and the amber was perfect. There's quite a bit of caramel tones in the amber and that paired nicely with the sweet barbecue sauce of the brisket.

A good time was had by all. Big thanks to nwyles for putting it on, and to Alison and Barry from R&B.

Mark.

[Susan in FL]

Very nice, thanks. Hearing about such events is a good way to get ideas for pairings. Please keep us posted on any other tastings that you attend.

The grilled foie gras with balsamic sauce matched up with Allagash White sounds lovely!

[AzianBrewer]

NY Cheese Cake and Pale Ale!!!

PBR is the latest fad in NYC for poser. Bars in the Meat Packing District are charging $5 for hick's beer.

[AzianBrewer]

Very nice, thanks.  Hearing about such events is a good way to get ideas for pairings.  Please keep us posted on any other tastings that you attend.

The grilled foie gras with balsamic sauce matched up with Allagash White sounds lovely!

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I can see the pairing of foie with the White. But would balsamic sauce covered the fresh aroma of the White???

[AzianBrewer]

I went to a beer/food pairing tasting last night.  The beers featured were all from R&B Brewing, a local micro here in Vancouver.  Alison the brewer is just about the nicest person I have ever met, and the most attractive brewer to boot!  All the food was delicious and paired very well.

Course 1.  Sambuca spinach oyster rockefeller, paired with their Kristal Weizen.  This beer has shown very well at GCBF.  It's their favourite.  Due to the filtering this beer is bright, and lacks an assertive phenolic clove flavour.  The effects of the bavarian yeast are there, just more subdued. 

Course 2. Goat feta and mixed green salad, raspberry (I'm pretty sure they said raspberry, but it wasn't very assertive) vinagrette.  This was paired with the Pilsner.  IMO this is their best beer.  A classic pilsner.  Our water is pretty good for proper brewing of Pilsner, I don't think Alison treats the water. 

Course 3. Pork tenderloin with Jalapeno jelly and cornbread.  This was served with their Pale Ale.  Their's is a pretty standard American style pale ale.  Right in the middle of the road with bitterness and hop flavour/aroma.  IMO, this was the weakest pairing.  The spiciness of the jelly was too assertive and influencing on the flavour of the beer.  I feel their IPA would have been a better choice.

Course 4. Beef brisket, barbecue flavour, cole slaw and potatoe salad, sides.  An amber was a great choice for this.  On a colder day I think Porter would have been great, but we were on a warm patio and the amber was perfect.  There's quite a bit of caramel tones in the amber and that paired nicely with the sweet barbecue sauce of the brisket.

A good time was had by all.  Big thanks to nwyles for putting it on, and to Alison and Barry from R&B. 

Mark.

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Mark-

R&B in Vancouver, Canada??? Or Vancouver, Washington??

[AzianBrewer]

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout and brownies.  That's my winter holiday-time dessert.

There was also a bar 8th avenue in NYC between 46th and 47th street called Scruffy Duffy's that had super buffalo wings that I used to wash down with Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.  Unfortunately, they appear to have switched owners or something because the wings have slipped in quality and they no longer have Sierra Nevada. They replaced it with Smithwicks (WTF???)

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Yes, WTF....Smithwicks is a pretty lousy beer in my book.