Forget Wine, Pair Dinner with SRB Beer

As an avid wine drinker, I rarely sip on a beer with my meal. I find it filling, and honestly don’t know the first thing about how to pair it with food. So when I was invited to Snake River Brewery’s recent beer dinner, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would I be eating pasta with pale ale? Or poutine with pilsner?

I walked away realizing that it’s surprisingly easy to pair a beer with dinner. Beer has so many complex flavors. While winemakers have only grapes to play with, beer makers have barley, hops, yeast, spices, nuts, fruits and more. And while many of us may only be familiar with the Brewpub’s favorite flavors, this dinner was a chance to show off some more obscure flavors. Strawberry infused beer? I’ll try it!  Here’s just some of the ways chef Ryan Brogan incorporated different beers into his 9-course tasting menu.

Roasted mushroom, vegetable and smoked mozzarella terrine and frisee salad, served with Monarch Pilsner.

Ricotta cheese and potato pierogi, Tuscan braised short rib, served with St. Alfonzo’s Belgian Dubbel

Semi-cured salmon and hamachi, fennel, picholine olives, blood orange, pistachios, beet, pickled ginger and shallots, served with Blood Orange Pakitos

Family-style roasted pork belly tataki, kimchi and red micro beets, served with Pakos IPA

Poached duck, potato rosti, beet greens, Grand Marnier and natural jus, served with Jenny Lake Lager

And dessert,

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Cara Rank

Also originally from the South, Cara Rank discovered cooking was a creative outlet that helped her relax after long days writing magazine and newspaper articles during the past eight years in Jackson. Really, she just missed Southern food. A lot. During a 12-year career as a journalist, Cara has won numerous awards for her work and has written about everything from rodeo queens to Dolly Parton tomatoes. She spends her weekends making jars of pickles and jam and amazing dinners for friends. She loves shishito peppers, Chicago-style hot dogs and elderflower-spiked cocktails.

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