In an earlier post I related a story about the power of good beer and food pairing. When well paired the two really do raise each other up, creating a combination that is better than the sum of its parts. At a beer dinner that I facilitated last night for a corporate Christmas party I witnessed yet another example of this. For the second course we were pouring Flying Dog’s Doggy Style Pale Ale, a classic American Pale Ale with a lightly cracker malt character and explosive citrus/pine flavors and aroma from loads of Cascade hops. It was paired with a warm escarole salad with mustard-sherry vinaigrette, brioche croutons, and crumbled blue cheese expertly created by Chef Philip Dorwart of Create Catering.  As I moved from table to table working the room and discussing beer and food with guests, one particularly outspoken diner had this to say about the pairing. “I hate hoppy beers. But with this salad, this is fucking awesome.”

There you have it. Another straightforward testimony to the power of pairing beer and food.

A Perfect Pint’s Certified Cicerone Michael Agnew will be co-hosting hosting an Oktoberfest beer dinner with the Dining Studio on October 16 at 7 p.m. at. Michael has selected brews from Victory, Ayinger, Surly, Köstritzer, and Wiehenstephan. The food will include Chef Philip Dorwart’s signature soft pretzels, passed hors d’oeuvres, and four courses matched to the beers above. Dorwart takes an original approach to beer dinners and uses very little beer in the actual cooking of paired courses. Instead, he uses more of a wine dinner model by highlighting a flavor in the beer with food. By implementing this practice he is able to offer unique beer to food matching without relying on the “just add some beer” ethos. It’s sure to be a blast. Prost! Reservations are $65 and available at 612-331-3310.

I facilitated a beer dinner last night at the Dining Studio in Minneapolis. The main course was a ribeye of prime beef with a bleu cheese potato gratin. I paired this course with Traquair Jacobite strong scotch ale flavored with coriander. As I made my way around the room there was one gentleman who was not overly fond of this beer. He had pushed his glass away and gone back to the leftovers of the earlier two beers. When I asked him what it was he didn’t like about it, he said it tasted too much of chocolate. I guess he wasn’t a fan of chocolate, at least not in his beer. He swore to me though that he would try it with the ribeye.

When I came back to his table a few minutes later, he had pulled the glass back toward himself and it was now half empty. This time he said that he loved the beer. While he didn’t like it on its own, the food pairing had mellowed the chocolate flavors and enhanced the dark fruit flavors, making the beer not just palatable to him, but pleasurable.

Flavors played off of each other really do affect one another. It’s a nice testament to the power of pairing the right beer with the right food.