New Site!

I am excited to announce that I have created an entire SITE dedicated to Craft Beer. I have pages regarding beer styles, glassware and basic Beer Education, and I plan on adding pages about Beer Events as well as products and tips.

What I would love is for any and all visitors to give me some feedback and comments so I can make the site what the readers want. Go visit and let me know what you think!

www.sippingsuds.com

Have you ever had a couple of beers with friends and come up with the greatest ideas ever? You solved that work problem, the puzzle from the paper or why Julie just can't handle a relationship--check out this article!
Apparently, science backs up what we beer drinkers have always known...give us a couple of brews and we are BRILLIANT! Okay, that might be stretching it...but it does make sense. A little alcohol loosens the inhibitions so our creative juices can flow. Thinking 'outside the box' is less intimidating. SO...next time there's a conundrum at work, take your team out for a couple of brews and get that problem solved!

This is happening! What a great early fall brew! #AtwaterBrewing

Can I drink Beer with that?

 

Can I drink Beer with that? 

 

Anyone remember the 80’s when green and pink suddenly became the greatest color combination of all time? Preppies nationwide were pairing these heretofore non-complementary hues in everything from turtlenecks to plaid skirts! Though sometimes difficult to accept, new combinations often overtake safe and settled old pairs. I would say that is happening with food pairings today.

We all know the craft beer industry is booming and that is the basis of my suggestion—with all these new beer flavors, food has a far more versatile companion than wine these days. Don’t get me wrong! Wine is no slouch—like my safe old khaki slacks and navy blouse, I like safe, comfortable pairings.  A nice Cab with my T-bone is always enjoyable.  But, according to Epicurious.com, “beer may actually be more food-friendly than wine is” (see article here). 

Of course, these new combinations have a learning curve. Unlike wine, with its “white with fish, red with red meat” rule, beer pairings are not so simple.  It is not enough to consider merely the protein in a dish; what about the spices and herbs? what about the cooking method? These are considerations when pairing with a great craft beer. 

We often think of pairings as ‘complementary’—and that is certainly one way to put drink and food together. There are flavors that complement one another and can enhance the dining experience. Having a malty, darker beer (Quadrupel or brown ale) with your grilled fare—both affected by the Maillard reaction—will give you a complementary pairing. However, there are other reasons to combine beer and food.

Contrasting flavors often creates an even better dining experience. There are times when we would like to ease the bitterness of the hoppy beer or decrease the Capsaicin heat of a spicy dish…this we do with a contrast pairing.  

With craft beer, you can consider the flavor as well as other characteristics to help create the contrast. For example, a higher ABV beer will make a great contrast to a sweet dish. Finish has an effect as well; try a dry stout to contrast a salty dish. A pleasant clash of flavors can make both the food and the beer more enjoyable. 

Other times, we want to cleanse the palate after each bite to enhance the enjoyment of the food--choosing a Cut Pairing accomplishes this. 

Cut pairings use elements of the beer to wash away elements of the food so the next bite is just like the first one. For example, highly carbonated beers scrub away lingering flavors from the palate. Diffusing richness or cutting away sugary notes with a Cut Pairing can make the whole meal better. 

Though there is no simple rule to beer and food pairings, one way to make choices is to “match strength with strength”…delicate dish? drink a lighter craft beer. Having steak with rich Béarnaise sauce? Pair that with a barrel aged beer to match the intensity. 

I love wine and enjoy drinking a glass with my dinner; but I must say that the options for food and drink pairing are so much wider when craft beers are in the mix. The variety of aromas, flavors and textures offered by craft beer suggest so many more yummy food pairings. Visit Craftbeer.com for great tips on pairings. Their infographic on the characteristics of craft beer goes a long way toward educating the home chef trying to pair a great beer with the meal for a dinner party!

Head out to your local brewery, fill up a growler, go home and cook a meal MADE for that beer!

The Nose Knows...Beer

I had a friend who always took a big whiff of me whenever we met up. Sounds odd, I know, but she always followed that with "I love the way your house smells!" She was clearly not at my house, but still, my scent reminded her of it.

Our noses are one of the most effective gatekeepers of our memories. Physically, the olfactory nerve is located near two areas of the brain associated with memory and emotion: the hippocampus and the amygdala. The connection also goes the other way...if those areas of the brain are damaged, the sense of smell is also affected. We associate things with their scents; things we smell trigger memories far faster than any of our other senses.

And to be perfectly honest, the sense of smell actually IS our sense of taste! Since our tongues only detect the 4 basic flavors (sweet, sour, bitter, salty), the nose adds in all the extras! Aroma is the first thing we experience when we eat or drink; the smell of that dish hits us before we ever put a morsel in our mouths and when the food actually is placed in the mouth, those aromas drift up through the retro nasal canal to the brain to be interpreted as "flavors" . So the nose knows flavor!

Why is this important to beer? Because there are far more than 4 flavors in the fine craft beers we are experiencing these days! I would hate to be limited to beers that are sweet, sour, bitter, or salty! How could we ever describe that floral or fruity quality of our IPA if the only descriptor was bitterness (even if an IBU rating of 50-70 IS important in this brew)? If "sweet" was the only flavor, where would we categorize the chocolatey/caramel of a Belgian Dubbel? Thank goodness for the NOSE!

So when you taste your next fine draft, let your nose help. Smell that brew first--without swishing or stirring, bring the glass to your nose and inhale with your mouth closed. What do you get? The possibilities are almost endless...nutty, biscuit dough, pine, kiwi, clove, cinnamon, sweaty, woody, acrid. Experience just the scent.
Now go on and swirl that beer to stimulate the carbonation and take another big sniff. Take note of the differences...more intense? entirely new smells? This is a second 'nose taste' to give you a deeper understanding of the beer you'll be drinking.

Finally a taste! Sip the beer but DO NOT swallow it. While the brew sits on your palate, breath out through your nose so you allow the Olfactory Bulb to identify those flavors your tongue cannot discern. When you swallow the beer, take note of the finish. How long does it last? The tongue can help out here--sweet? bitter?

Now you have truly experienced that finely crafted beer your local brewmaster has created. Since those local guys have dedicated their craft to making many varieties and styles, many flavors and feelings with their beers, you owe it to them to have the full experience...and that means listening to how your nose says your beer tastes! Now go out there and smell something fabulous!