Sizzle - Fall 2010

one with Old Rasputin Stout Beer and one with housemade Salted Chimay Beer Caramel. Both feature 100 percent Tahitian Vanilla Frozen Custard and housemade vanilla whipped cream.

Beer beverages “are a minimal but growing trend,” Brooklyn Brewery’s Oliver says. “The influential cocktail bar PDT in New York makes a drink with our Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout. It's called a ‘Black Flip,’ and it's mighty tasty.” Some beer drinks have been around awhile. Everyone knows a Boilermaker is a beer and a shot of whiskey. A Black and Tan is stout and pale ale. Stout and champagne make a Black Velvet. A shandygaff is a cooling mixture of lager and lemonade. A Michilata is another summertime specialty made with lager and ingredients such as lime or tomato juice, hot peppers or other spices.

Restaurant Kelly Liken in Vail, Colo., has a Michilata on its summer

StudioSchulz.com
cocktail menu. It’s made by running
a lime wedge around the rim of a
Pilsner glass, then dipping the glass
in kosher salt. Then, 1½ ounces
pickled jalapeño juice and ½ ounce
lime juice are topped off with a
bottle of Mexican-style beer and
garnished with a lime wedge.

The drink was created by Kelly Liken, owner/executive chef, with her husband Rick Colomitz, general manager and wine director for the restaurant, “as a way to recapture the sun and sand of Mexico in the Rocky Mountains,” Colomitz explains. “Beer drinkers and open-minded foodies are the most likely guests to order it.” “Beer interacts and pairs with all sorts of flavors from spicy to herbaceous to citrus and sweet,” Wertz says. “It has endless possibilities for both the consumer and the culinarian.”

Suzanne Hall has been writing about chefs, restaurants, food and wine from her home in Soddy-Daisy, Tenn., for more than 25 years.

Craft beer frequently finds its way onto the fine-dining table at Stone Brewing Co. These barbecue duck tacos are served with a variety of beer samples.

A little knowledge is helpful when serving beer or cooking and making drinks with a brew. All beers fall into one of two categories: ales or lagers. The difference is determined by the type of yeast used to ferment them. Yeast used for ales coagulates at the top of the fermentation tank and prefers temperatures in the 60-72°F range. The resulting beer tends to be complex, with a rich aroma and flavor. Yeast for lagers gathers near the bottom of the tank and prefers colder temperatures (46-55°F). Lagers tend to be lighter in aroma and flavor than ales.

Two other key ingredients in beer are malt and hops. Malt comes from the grain, usually barley, that has germinated in water, then kiln-dried. Hops are climbing vines. Their flowers are used by brewers to add bitterness to beer. The balance between the sweetness of malt and the bitterness of hops creates different styles of beer. Ales and lagers are crafted in many styles. Here’s a look at some of the most popular types.

ALES

A big, complex beer that can be aged; often compared to cognac easy drinking with subtle hops and a nutty sweetness Highly hopped with high alcohol content More bronze than pale in color, with nice balanced malt and hops Black, dry and hoppy, with chocolate flavors Opaque black, with coffee flavors and malty sweetness; made sweet or dry Cloudy and spicy with subtle hops

Barley wine: Brown: India pale ale (IPA): Porter: Stout: Wheat beer:

LAGERS

Bock: Dark: Dunkel: Oktoberfest: Pale: Pilsner:

dark or amber in color, rich, malty and often low in hops Medium hoppy, with caramel syrup added for color smooth, with subtle malt and hops Malty and nicely hopped Clean tasting, with mild hops and dense carbonation Clear gold in color with a hoppy bitterness