Few things are more magical than a spot-on food and beer pairing— a crisp IPA that cuts the fat of a rich meal, a light Belgian-style with a seafood dish, a semi-sweet stout enhanced with dark chocolate. Brewers and chefs are exploring uncharted territory when it comes to pairings, giving food and beer lovers a whole new realm to explore.
We asked chefs, brewers, and other industry types why the marriage of food and beer is such a happy one. Here’s what they had to say.
"We support flavor marriage. It's time for everyone to be able to pair food with the incredible range of flavors in beer, without shame or fear of reprisal. Really though, wine just doesn't have caramelized flavors or roasted notes to pick up on— you can even bust out your umami here—and those are some of the most important food flavors. Beer offers that in spades thanks to the huge diversity of ingredients that brewers can choose from. Poor wine, hobbling around all alone on that one little grape." — Dave Thibodeau, president and co-founder at Ska Brewing in Durango, Colorado