beer & food

When beer is good business

With the help of Boston Beer founder Jim Koch, BusinessWeek serves up a four-course (five if you count the Samuel Adams Utopias served at the end as a cordial).

The story concludes: “Indeed, it was a meal that could convert even the most ardent of oenophiles.”

The article appears at the same time as this announcement:

Robert M. Parker, Jr., world-renowned wine critic and publisher of The Wine Advocate, has signed on as a weekly columnist for BusinessWeek, Editor-in-Chief Stephen J. Adler announced today. Written for BusinessWeek’s discerning [italics added by your editor ;>) ] readers, “Wines of the Week” will run in the Executive Life section of the magazine and will deliver Mr. Parker’s recommendations and descriptive tasting notes along with ratings and pricing information.

“I am very excited about the opportunity to share my passion for the world’s finest wines and wine bargains with the readers of BusinessWeek,” said Mr. Parker. “I have always believed no great business can be conducted without eventually serving the proper wine.”

Looks like BusinessWeek needed to invite Mr. Parker to their little beer dinner.

When a ‘hot’ chef grabs a beer

Food & Wine magazine gives a nice nod to beer in its current issue (the story even gets promoted on the cover): Great Beer From Around the World Meets its Food Match.

The article is pegged to the fact that one of the country’s “genius” chefs – Paul Kahan – plans to open a beer-friendly “gastropub” in Chicago, and tells you something you probably already know:

The new restaurant exemplifies one of the less discussed (but no less excellent) developments in American gastronomy: Beer, at least good beer, is finally getting its due. Craft beer is now the fastest-growing part of the alcohol industry in the United States, outpacing sales of wine and hard liquor. . . .

Restaurants that offer good food, great beer and modest environs have become another conspicuous trend -vno secret to anyone who’s tried to get a table on a Saturday night at New York City’s top gastropub, the Spotted Pig. In fact, sophisticated diners across the country are choosing to eat in more casual settings.

OK, you might not have known about the Spotted Pig, but the point is that beer often makes a better match for food than wine, and that often diners prefer a casual setting.

Of course, it is encouraging when the chef doesn’t just have his eyes on the latest trend, but truly likes beer. So what beer is Kahan drinking in the story? Pere Jacques from Chicago’s Goose Island Beer Co.

Everything is readable online, including recipes, such as one for Beer-Braised Chicken Stew with Fava Beans and Peas.

For the love of yeast

Steelhead Brewing Company brewmaster Teri Fahrendorf has wandered into the blogging world as she begins work on the “GOOD BREAD GUIDE – Beer Lover’s Bread Book.”

A few of the basics:

What makes me want to write this book? I love yeast, and I love to experiment with the breads I bake. I love “pushing the envelope” with my breads, and with my professionally-made beers. (As long as the beer isn’t too far-out for our customers at Steelhead.)

There appears to be plenty of consumer guides for people searching for a good beer, but few consumer guides to good bread. I am interested in the smallest artisanal producers of both. And because I don’t think anybody’s put this slant on it before, I want to approach bread from a brewer’s perspective.

Anyway, the blog is subtitled “A brewmaster searches for the best local artisan breads and bakeries, and the best local pint of beer, with help from brewers and bakers all over the country.”

How’s that for a call to action?

Well done beer and food reporting

OK, if we’re going to pick on newspapers when they don’t do a great job of reporting about beer, it seems fair to also give credit to ones that do.

Cheers to the StatesmanJournal in Salem, Ore.

Rather than settling for a routine advance on the Blooms & Brews Brewfest, reporter Angela Yeager wrotes a story about how to match beer and food, complete with lots of tips.

Smoked, smoked and more smoked

Bamberb OnionFine Living Television features the beers and food of Germany this weekend. Germany: Prost! To German Beer! airs first at 10:30 p.m. EST on Friday, and repeats twice.

Schlenkerla Tavern, Heller Brewery and Rauchbier from Bamberg and Beck’s will be highlighted, and the Fine Living website has a recipe for the Bamberg Onion.

Just a thought. There’s time to track down some Schlenkerla Urbock (a beer that tastes bigger than its 6.5% abv), and make yourself a Bamberg Onion (be warned, the recipe is for four so you might invite a few friends over) – an onion stuffed with smoked pork and topped with a slab of smoked bacon – before the show starts.