I’m sick of reading and food and wine
I picked up the paper this morning and read yet another article on pairing wine with Thanksgiving dinner. I have yet to see a single article, page, note, quip or mention of pairing beer with Thanksgiving. Those of you who read this blog (which is probably few, seeing as I have a pretty erratic posting schedule) know that beer beats wine hands down with dinner.
After reading this in the paper this morning, I got fed up enough to fire off a letter to the editor - maybe it’ll make it in:
This Year, Make it
Beer
Beer
This time of year is filled with suggestions on
pairing food and drink. With a holiday that is centered around one of the
biggest meals of the year, it’s hard to read through a newspaper this week
without finding tips on pairing that turkey with wine. However, this year,
let’s make it beer.
pairing food and drink. With a holiday that is centered around one of the
biggest meals of the year, it’s hard to read through a newspaper this week
without finding tips on pairing that turkey with wine. However, this year,
let’s make it beer.
Wine and food have forever been bedfellows, with
scores of books and articles written on the subject. What is missing from this
vast world of tips, tricks and techniques is a simple fact: wine can’t pair with
everything. Luckily, beer can.
scores of books and articles written on the subject. What is missing from this
vast world of tips, tricks and techniques is a simple fact: wine can’t pair with
everything. Luckily, beer can.
Forget about the beer you’re thinking of. No light
American lagers need apply - we’re talking about real beer. This year,
consider an Altbier, the old-world style German beer with dark caramel notes and
a soft maltiness that picks up nicely on the delicate flavor in that sweet white
meat of the turkey. Or instead, perhaps you’d prefer a Brown Ale, preferably
English, with a more pronounced roastiness that can tackle the caramelized crust
across the turkey, and is virtually unbeatable at pairing with stuffing. For
dessert, an English Barleywine or Imperial Stout find a perfect partner in
pumpkin pie, introducing flavors never before tasted at the Thanksgiving
table.
American lagers need apply - we’re talking about real beer. This year,
consider an Altbier, the old-world style German beer with dark caramel notes and
a soft maltiness that picks up nicely on the delicate flavor in that sweet white
meat of the turkey. Or instead, perhaps you’d prefer a Brown Ale, preferably
English, with a more pronounced roastiness that can tackle the caramelized crust
across the turkey, and is virtually unbeatable at pairing with stuffing. For
dessert, an English Barleywine or Imperial Stout find a perfect partner in
pumpkin pie, introducing flavors never before tasted at the Thanksgiving
table.
While wine may be a great beverage, it simply can’t
do everything. Beer has the depth, versatility and complexity to weave its way
through your table this year, bringing everything paired with it to incredible
new places. This year, make it beer. Here’s hoping. Someone’s got to set these people straight.
do everything. Beer has the depth, versatility and complexity to weave its way
through your table this year, bringing everything paired with it to incredible
new places. This year, make it beer. Here’s hoping. Someone’s got to set these people straight.
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on December 20th, 2007 at 12:03 am
Great Response! Hey someone had to say it. Zymurgy had a great issue about doing beer with Thanksgiving but obviously the only people who read that were people who were obviously going to be drinking beer with their dinner. I hope someone read that and passed up a bottle of wine and grabbed a 6 pack of something delicious.
on January 15th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
I completely agree with you about the lack of beer and food pairings. I believe that wine and food is very popular, for many reasons, but the biggest reason may be that the wine industry has been able to connect the land-to the grapes-to the glass, coupled with most wineries growing their own grapes has romanticized wine. As you know most breweries have made thier home in the city and most of them are in industilized areas, it seems that they have left behind the connection of the land. For once, I would like to see a brewery that would include the “concept” of the land, maybe grow hops or barley or both. Someone needs to remind people that craft beer comes from the land!
Anyway, keep up the good work!
Cheers,
Marcus
on July 31st, 2008 at 9:47 am
Good of you to speak up for beer! But don’t forget: beer’s a better value than wine, too, and you can much more easily afford to have four different beers with Thanksgiving (to pair with different parts of the meal and to suit different tastes) than you can four different wines. Often smaller bottles, too (although a nice sixtel of draft bock would be good…).
Nice blog, thanks for the link!