It’s no secret! American craft beer is recognised the world over for pioneering the global craft beer revolution we see today due to an unswerving commitment to quality, relentless innovation and the highest levels of brewing skill and creativity. Beer styles include easy-drinking lagers, ever-popular IPAs and hazy IPAs in their many iterations, fruited sours, wheat beers, brown ales, porters and big barrel-aged stouts, to name but a few. There is a beer style to suit every customer’s palate regardless of age, gender or nationality.
This Mother’s Day try something new by offering an American craft beer paired menu that will surprise and delight your customers. Beer is the ideal partner for food due to its wide flavour spectrum and unrivalled versatility. The high level of carbonation in beer will help scrub the palate clean of fatty foods and leave the mouth refreshed and ready for the next bite. Beer is lower in alcohol than wine allowing customers to enjoy more than one per meal and helping to add incremental sales to your bottom line.
Here’s a guide to creating a different type of culinary experience for Mother’s Day with typical dishes that pair well with beer:
Fish and chips – fish has a light, delicate flavour and shouldn’t be overwhelmed by the beer. Choose something crisp and clean with a high level of carbonation that will refresh the palate and compliment the fish, eg. Helles lager
Sunday roast – offer a beer that mimics the flavours of red wine such as porter or stout. The roasty, toasty, full-bodied flavours of porters or stouts will pair well with foods rich in deep, intense flavours such as meat, gravy and all the trimmings. These styles are a good alternative to foods normally paired with wine, such as steak, casserole, burgers, ribs etc.
Vegetarian dishes/vegetables – hops add a herbal, citrus note to earthy vegetable dishes so IPAs are the go-to pairing solution for these foods. Add a touch of zing to your menu with a classic American IPA bursting with resin, spruce, citrus or tropical fruit notes. For a less bitter combination offer a hazy/juicy IPA with its restrained bitterness and soft, velvety mouthfeel which may appeal more to those mums new to the world of IPAs.
Desserts – a barrel-aged imperial stout or barley wine is a classic accompaniment to a decadent and indulgent dessert and pairs beautifully with chocolate, coffee, nuts or dried fruit-based desserts. Beers can be aged in a variety of used spirits’ barrels to give a rich depth of flavour and intriguing levels of complexity with bourbon being a classic example.
Cheese – flavour combinations between beer and cheese are endless – mild, creamy brie or goat’s cheese goes with an easy-drinking pilsner, mature cheddar is perfect with a hop-forward IPA and stilton or blue cheese pairs well with a smooth, mellow stout with a hint of sweetness to match the intensity of the cheese.
American craft beer is widely perceived to be bigger, bolder and more complex in flavour than many other nation’s making it sought out the world over. It regularly wins top honours at international beer competitions judged by some of the best palates in the industry.
American craft beer is available through national wholesalers or on line Athletic Brewing, or Sierra Nevada UK The UK remains an important export market for American craft beer with 7.3% of all global exports, the second largest market behind Canada.
Free resources for chefs and restauranteurs are available on www.brewersassociation.org or www.craftbeer.com