Menu for success

Beer meets food, happiness ensues

It’s an article of faith here at Brewers’ Guardian that beer complements a fine meal as well as wine, with the fruits of barley, hops and yeast equalling and in many respects surpassing the strained pulp of skinned and mashed grapes.

Yet it perplexes and vexes us so that more brewers aren’t working feverishly to have their best beers – especially higher-strength, full bodied outcomes that mimic wine’s aloholic strength – fighting for a place on upmarket eatery menus.

So it’s an enthusiastic thumbs up to Vertical Drinks, the British importer who last night launched American craft brewer Dogfish Head’s creative endeavours via a beer and food matching in London. The tasting, staged at the justifiably-lauded White Horse pub in Parson’s Green, offered the following pairings:

* 60 Minute IPA with schezwan peppered salmon
* 90 Minute IPA with stilton rarebit
* Indian Brown Ale with little gem stuffed with a prosciutto salad
* Raison D’Etre with duck rillette on toast
* Palo Santo Marron with steak and chorizo skewers

It’s worth noting that all these beers have tremendous flavour and character; these aren’t quaffable, session beers, rather to be sipped, chewed and allowed to linger on the palate. Secondly, these are all high strength beers, ranging from 6% abv upwards to 12% for the fantastic Palo Santo Marron.
 
I’d offer a fuller assessment of the suitability of the pairings, save that thanks to a traffic snarl that bodes ill will towards a smoothly functioning Olympics come 2012, I arrived very late in the day with all but the steak skewers having been served. (And this last item made the stalled for hours in traffic ordeal seem far less annoying.)

Congratulations to Vertical Drinks, the brewing team at Dogfish Head, and to The White Horse for celebrating the heaven that can be beer when paired with the best of culinary delights.