Beer can be paired with foods, just like wine

By DAN HEATH
Staff Writer

June 30, 2008 04:00 am

— LAKE PLACID -- Beer is the better beverage for those who like to imbibe during a meal.
So says Brooklyn Brewery Brewmaster and Vice President Garrett Oliver, who was the guest speaker at a beer-tasting and abridged five-course meal for local restaurateurs at Lisa G's in Lake Placid recently.
"Beer has a wider range of flavors than wine," Oliver said. "That's important when you match it to food."
While one flavor of wine might work with one or two courses in a multi-course meal, people can share a bottle of beer during each course to provide a better match with each dish, Oliver said.
"A beer luncheon helps people see how well beer works with food."
The carbonation in beer also helps cleanse the palate, he said, so the full flavor of the dish comes through in every bite.
The first course, an arugala salad with spicy pecans, duck confit, preserved lemons and pears and drizzled with a honey vinaigrette, was paired with the brewery's Brooklyner Weisse beer. Oliver described it as a German-style wheat brew, with hints of banana, clove, bubble gum and smoke flavors.
"It's a great style of beer with salads and also seafoods," Oliver said. "It's slight acidity works with vinaigrettes."
Next up was a twice-cooked buffalo chicken wing paired with Brooklyn Lager, the company's flagship brew. The lager features caramelized malts and a second layer of hopping.
The hops work well with spicy foods, which can make red and white wines tough, Oliver said.
The third course paired a grilled diver scallop on a bed of spring peas and asparagus risotto finished with truffle oil and roasted onion demi-glace with the brewery's newest creation, Brooklyn Local One.
The Belgian-inspired beer has quite a bit of hop to it, yet is very dry, with only a small amount of residual sugar. That helps it pair well with spicy seafood and fine cheeses, Oliver said.
A braised veal cheek with white beans, hot sausage and porcini ragout, topped with basil goat-cheese cream, paired with Brooklyn Brown Ale, made up the main course.
Wine served with such a dish contrasts with its flavor, Oliver said, but the ale's caramel flavors lock onto the caramelized flavors in the meat.
The meal concluded with rosemary chocolate mousse with malted crème anglaise, coupled with Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout.
"Many people never even thought of beer with dessert," Oliver said. "This beer has a special place in my heart. It was my resume to come to Brooklyn Brewery."
Whiteface Lodge Sommelier and Beverage Manager Scott Waller said Oliver's presentation gave him a new perspective. He said the fact that beer covers so much ground with food pairings was particularly eye opening
"It's definitely cool the way these beers work with foods," Waller said.
He plans to start introducing beer and food pairings to the lodge's guests, in the same manner it does with wine.
Don Scammell, president of Don Scammell Inc. of Bloomingdale, said he spoke with many of the restaurateurs and that Oliver's presentation really opened their eyes.
"Since 1965, I've been in the beer business in one form or another. I've never been more excited. Beer is the next wine in this kind of food pairing."
dheath@pressrepublican.com

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