No Pinot, Please
Pour Me a Pint
by Ryan Miller
hen most people think of pairing beer with a meal, the first will contrast against the food’s taste elements, so that the beer and
thought (and only thought in many cases) is pairing a Bud food flavors shine.
with a hotdog at a baseball game. This is a fine pairing and a great
•? Sweet calms sweet – allowing other flavors rise to the surface.
American tradition, but a new American tradition has been brewing
Examples: peas and carrots; milk and cookies; stout and vanilla
over the past 30 years. This new tradition is American craft beer.
ice cream floats.
Craft beer is difficult to categorize, but speaking in general terms,
•? Acidic calms salt – acid cuts the salt and balances flavor
it’s made in small batches, using the highest quality ingredients
to create a “cleanness”. Examples: ceviche and tortilla chips;
available. The result is an authentic, complex beverage, made with
tomatoes and mozzarella cheese; pickles and a corned beef
pride and passion.
sandwich.
•? Bitter calms sweet – allowing other flavors rise to the surface.
Example: the sweet of malted barley is calmed and balanced
“Dinner pairings tend to be focused
by the bitterness of hop alpha acids. Think: An India pale ale’s
on wine, but craft beer offers
bitterness calms the sweetness of the icing on a carrot cake.
Perhaps something like a bitter arugula salad with sweet dried
countless options to pair with food.”
cranberries, or perhaps more commonly, your morning coffee
Customs evolve slowly, and dinner pairings tend to be focused
with cream and sugar.
on wine, but craft beer offers countless options to pair with food.
•? Umami complements umami. Examples: mushrooms on
Both wine and beer’s acidity tends to calm salts and fats, allowing
fettuccine alfredo; parmesan cheese on spaghetti and meatballs;
the food’s flavors to come through. While beer and wine have
an aged old ale and holiday fruitcake.
some similar qualities, craft beer takes it to another level due to the
Now that we have the basic taste elements under our belts, we
varying acidity attributes and the hop bitterness levels provided
need to develop a high-level understanding of the beer categories
by different beer styles. The acidity and bitterness calm a food’s
and their general flavor profiles. We classify our beers by the seven
richness and residual sugars. Additionally, carbonation helps cleanse flavor categories created by Greg Engert of the neighborhood
the pallet, while the unique characteristics of malt, hop and yeast in restaurant group in Washington, DC. These categories are crisp,
each variety add to the dining experience.
hop, malt, roast, smoke, fruit and spice, and tart and funky. The
At Benson Brewery we strongly believe in eating and drinking
details of these categories go well beyond the scope of this article,
better, and this experience is enhanced by pairing the meal with the but the following brief descriptions of the more common of these
proper beer. For your next dinner party or company event a nice
categories will act as a guide and help you narrow your beer choices
twist may be to hold a pairing dinner with the ultimate beverage:
down for your meal pairing.
craft beer. The following bullet points from the Brewers Association
•? Crisp beers such as English blonde ales, pilsners and Vienna
describe the basic taste elements to focus on while considering what
lagers tend to be lighter body, lower alcohol and cleaner flavor.
beers to pair with a meal. The dominant craft beer taste elements
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