American Pale Ale, the granddaddy of American Craft Beer

This post kicks off a new series exploring beer styles, suggest beers to taste and recommend food pairings for each. So lets begin at the beginning, American Pale Ale; the style that launched a revolution. American Pale Ale kicked the bar door down and offered drinkers something very different from fizzy yellow light lagers. Ask … Read more

The Food Side of Beer & Food Pairing

When I was first thinking about pairing beer and food, I wasn’t sure if one was more important than the other. But after pondering it, I’m thinking food has the edge. It’s what brings us to the table. The table is a special place because it’s a social place. Eating alone for sustenance is boring. … Read more

Beer & Food Pairing: Evaluating Beer

In the last post we looked at matching intensity of beer and food to create perfect pairings. The rule-of-thumb is to increase intensity as the meal progresses, from salad to dessert. Matching intensity pairings highlight and amplify flavors in each other, but don’t overpower each other. Whether the flavors complement or contrast each other, they … Read more

Pairing Beer and Food by Intensity

There is one thing to remember when pairing beer and food. Beer is food. If you can put together a nice meal, you can create a great beer pairing. The principles I’ll share in the next few posts are helpful, but not hard and fast rules. Consider them suggestions, and feel free to experiment. Good … Read more

Tasting Beer with your Mouth

Before we (finally) dig into beer and food pairing, here’s another tasting principles post to prepare us for the adventure. We started this series talking about tasting beer by examining its appearance and aromas. Both can give you hints about how a beer will taste. Take a look and see what the color tell you … Read more