Move Over Wine…Beer Pairs Better

For decades, if you asked your server in an upscale restaurant to recommend a wine to go with your entrée, he would probably send over the sommelier to offer suggestions and promote the appropriate wine selection.

The past few years have welcomed another buzzword to the culinary industry — cicerone.

Although you would not see a cicerone in your favorite restaurant, just know that a cicerone is to the beer market what a sommelier is to — ‘winos’ (‘scuse me — I meant wine market).

Rather than talk of grapes, barreling, climate and ‘what the grape has done this year,’ you will hear about hops, barley, yeast and handles (taps in the bar). A really crafty tavern offers lots of taps for selecting a favorite draft or introducing a new brew to sample.

Now, I am not talking about Miller or Bud (especially ‘lite’). I am talking microbrews and craft beer. Combinations of two or more create the real sassy stuff that you might sip out of a sherry glass or other brew-specific vessel and often poured a certain way. Have you ever noticed a Stella Artois served? (No hardcore bottle swigging with these brews, please).

Beer has an amazing capacity to accent food and can be used as a tenderizer or in a marinade. A favorite cheese dip of mine is laced with beer. My Octoberfest sauerkraut braises in beer and my Flemish beer stew demands a robust stout to set it apart from — just beef stew. Move over beef bourguignon.

Beer might actually be more food friendly than wine. For instance, what are you going to opt to drink with a cheeseburger or reuben sandwich? A glass of pinot or an ice-cold beer? A recent column featured craft cocktails; one of which combined Guinness stout with cream soda among other ingredients and it was to say the least, yummy. I would highly recommend it as an after dinner quaff.

Incidentally, as with wine, a rule of thumb is never cook with a beer that you wouldn’t drink. Additionally, never serve beer with liquor or wine-infused food. Only serve beer with beer-infused cuisine. There is a whole list of how to pair beer with foods — it’s an art — just like wine.

Cheers for beer!