Sunday, June 24, 2007

Beer Sommeliers?

I'm only a week into my career as a blogger, and I'm noticing a trend...this is turning into a beverage blog. This morning I heard NPR was going to air a segment about food and beer pairing. As an experienced beer drinker and part-time home-brewer, I had to keep the radio on for this one...I usually tune out early on Sunday's for fear of hearing a second of "Prairie Home Companion", can't stomach that show.

I'm not a huge beer snob, but I do have my limits...no light beer, even if it is Heineken Light, it's still LIGHT beer. There are apparently much bigger beer snobs out there. When I heard mention of a beer sommelier, I knew the wine yuppies had made there way into the beer world.

Here's the Brewer's Association's recommendation of beer/food pairings--

Pale Ale: Wide range of food: meat pie, English cheese; great with a burger

Amber/Red Ale: Wide range of food: chicken, seafood, burgers; great with spicy cuisine

Dry Stout: Hearty, rich food: steak, meat pie; a classic with raw oysters

Hefeweizen: Great with lighter food: salads, seafood, sushi; classic with weisswurst

Classic Pilsener: Great with lighter food: chicken, salads, salmon, bratwurst

Amber Lager: Hearty, spicy food: barbecue, hamburgers, chili

Brown Ale, Altbier: Hearty foods: roast pork, smoked sausage, grilled salmon

9 comments:

Louis Winthorpe III said...

Wow, Strap. "Sommeliers?!" You're using some mighty high-powered language there. I have no idea what that word means...

Strap said...

it's a word that has no place in the world of beer.

Anonymous said...

"Calssic with oysters"?!? You've got to be kdding me!
I know it sounds all fancy, but the etymology is a little grubbier though: comes from Old French for a pack animal driver, and has the idea of someome who procures supplies.
Keep up the good drinking, er, I mean good work.

Strap said...

my beer/food pairing would be much different.

pale ale--good with all food, except ice cream
stout--good with all food, except ice cream

any beer, any time...but not with ice cream

next time I'm in a fancy restaurant, I'll ask for the pack animal driver to bring some wine.

Sonya said...

meat pie?
I'll drink anything with meat pie.

Louis Winthorpe III said...

who is Keith?

Glad to see Sonya posting comments...

Strap said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Strap said...

you might remember Keith from brunch once at the bistro place in shirlington...or maybe that was TP there that day. he was visiting Russ and Betsy.

Anonymous said...

No, it as me, Keith, I think, or at least I did go to brunch with a bunch of people including Sonya and Steve when visiting Russ and Betsy once.