It’s been more than two decades now since the publication of Garrett Oliver’s The Brewmaster’s Table, a seminal tome that remains the bible for pairing food and beer. When Garrett wrote it, craft beer was emerging but still a niche interest for most North American drinkers. The book was ahead of its time, and it was influential in elevating flavor-forward ales and lagers in the public eye.
As brewers, sales reps, publicans, and retailers made the case for craft beer, it was a text we referenced repeatedly. Many of us were studying it, lending it out to staff, and basing our beer dinners on the concepts discussed within those pages. For a solid decade after the book’s publication, beer-and-food pairing helped introduce guests to a wide array of new and interesting flavors while adding depth to the experience of tasting beer.
But That Was Then
Today, people scarcely organize beer dinners anymore, and the idea of pairing food and beer is only rarely discussed at taprooms, restaurants, bars, and retail outlets.
The rich, layered experience of matching beer and food helped introduce a generation of drinkers to more interesting beer, and it expanded their appreciation for the beverage itself. Yet as craft beer’s popularity soared, it became unmoored from the activities that helped it gain its initial success. We lined up for the rarest beers and started trading them, and we found many more that were increasingly available on supermarket and liquor-store shelves. Taprooms opened everywhere, and craft beer became commonplace. Sales went flat.
The good news is that savvy bars and breweries are adapting. A positive by-product of softening beer sales has been the increase in food options at brewery taprooms. With beer alone struggling to draw crowds, and growing competition from restaurants and bars—to say nothing of more and more taprooms—producers have smartly added food trucks, pop-up offerings, and even full-blown kitchens. (For more, see Finding and Managing the Right Food Program for Your Taproom.)
Paradoxically, more food than ever is available to enjoy with your beer—but little is said about how to do so.
It’s time to reinvigorate the beverage that got many of us so excited 20 years ago. Diving into the pleasures of beer-and-food pairing is the perfect place to start.
More Potential than Ever
When Garrett outlined the vast possibilities of food-and-beer pairing, he had to rely on a bevy of beers sourced from brewers around the globe. At the time, that was the best way to attend to the nearly infinite ways that many dozens of beer styles could interact with various cuisines. Today, however, our breweries are producing an ever-expanding array of styles, so we’re able to bring so many more flavor interactions in-house. The timing couldn’t be better to revisit just how beautifully beer and food go together.
As a rule, beer is prepared to suit most cuisines because it’s lower in alcohol and bubbly. It offers an automatic palate-cleansing effect, which also helps to soften spicy heat; it can dig into the richness of meats and fried foods, all without overwhelming the dish’s flavors. That’s why simple lagers have worked well at dive bars and baseball stadiums for so long.
However, the more we investigate particularities of styles—from hop bombs and fruited sours to dark lagers and wheat beers—the more we find appropriate matches with any number of dishes coming out of brewery kitchens or the trucks parked outside them.
I’d love to see breweries be more intentional about their food and beer offerings, in tandem. When that big bourbon barrel–aged imperial stout is coming up, call in the ramen truck to see just how delicious the rich, boozy notes of cocoa, vanilla, and wood can taste alongside a warm bowl of tonkatsu. Before it’s time for a seasonal menu change in the kitchen—let’s say spring vegetables are sprouting—consider designing a witbier or lower-ABV hazy that can sing with grilled asparagus or a pile of arugula (livened up with a squeeze of lemon and some freshly shaved parm).
Photo: Ash Patino/Generic Brand Human
Communicate and Encourage
Be sure to call out that intentionality! Don’t be afraid to mention pairings on your menu or on a chalkboard situated beside—or along with—your current food vendor’s offering.
This doesn’t have to be pedantic either. You can have a lot of fun by suggesting multiple styles in taster pours with certain dishes, challenging your guests to decide just what tastes best with what. Does a peach-laden tart beer work best with a slice of pepperoni pizza, drizzled with hot honey, as that juicy fruit flavor balances against the salty meat? Or maybe it’s an Italian-style pilsner, with its bold effervescence to wash away the heat and hop-driven herbal aromatics to further season the slice?
Bundling these kinds of pairings can increase check averages, too, with many guests excited to try one more beer with their lunch or dinner if it’s based on a new way of experiencing that beer. Also, I’ve had a lot of success in moving through more esoteric styles by suggesting them with specific dishes. That lichtenhainer has a better chance of moving when poured alongside some spicy Szechuan food, especially dandan noodles, or even just a pile of lemon-pepper chicken wings.
We can liven up the old-school beer dinners, too. Team up with a few breweries, bars, and restaurants for a walking tour of beer-and-food pairings. Offer a spate of traditional styles with untraditional foods; maybe this Oktoberfest season will see you turn some classic German-inspired beers toward Korean barbecue instead of sausage platters. Should you have a BYOB joint nearby, see about working with their guests to snag six-packs on their way to dinner. Bonus points for mixing and matching in those sixers to increase the pairing possibilities.
We’ve come along way in craft beer over the past two decades, but we still have a ways to go, once again. By getting back to our roots, we can energize the craft-brewing scene, create experiences anew, and fall in love with beer-and-food pairings all over again.