Pairing food with beer is a delicate art. When done right, it can yield magnificent flavors. When done poorly, it can ruin a terrific tasting beer, or worse, the whole meal. 
Many (like Garrett Oliver) have written volumes (like his Brewmaster’s Table) about how to do the former–find magnificent flavors through the right pairing. It’s a weighty book, but clear and direct in what works and what doesn’t.
Pairing food and beer is a key section on the Certified Cicerone® Exam and from what I’ve heard, it’s the one section that really freaks test takers out. While the rest of the test gauges one’s knowledge of beer, the pairing section tests your ability to use that knowledge. You might know the history of this porter, or the SRM of that amber, or the particular strain of yeast that went into a specific German lager like the back of your hand, but when it comes to drinking this beer, this ONE beer, what food will accentuate the flavor and what foods will turn it into like sucking an empty package of sour patch kids?
One study strategy I am employing as I study for the Certified Cicerone Exam, is to plan, cook, and eat several beer dinners, taking notes along the way. My first beer dinner was way back in Fall of 2016, but I finally got around to a second dinner this February. Here is the menu.
- Tasting Course: Mussels sauteed in Gueuze
- Salad Course: Arugula with Buttermilk Ranch, paired with a Pilsner
- Cheese Course: Butterkase paired with a Kölsch
- Main: Cornish Game Hen and Sage Stuffing paired with a Belgian
- Dessert: Carrot Cake paired with an IPA
The menu came about as I studied two key sources: the afore-mentioned Garrett Oliver’s Brewmaster’s Table and Randy Mosher’s Tasting Beer. Mosher’s book has some specific pairings I wanted to try. Most everyone agrees that mussels steamed in Gueuze (rather than water) is a “classic” pairing. I also read that hoppy flavors balance the strong sweetness of carrot cake and the traditional cream cheese icing. I generally dislike carrot cake, but since this is for my Cicerone study, I’ll take one for the team. I also wanted to repeat some pairings I have had in the past…to see if they held water or if they were a fluke.
The Beer: The stars of the show ended up being:
- Oude Cuvee Rene Geuze Lambic Ale
Weihenstephaner Pilsner- Ballast Point California Kolsch
- North Coast Brewing Brother Thelonious Belgian Ale
- Hanger 24 Betty IPA
Here’s the result!
>The Mussels. First, I’ve never had a Gueuze, so I didn’t know if it would be pale straw, gold or other. The Oude was flavored with oranges, so it was…orange. And sour. The tartness is supposed to accentuate the inherent saltiness of seafood. Probably the biggest challenge of the entire meal was finding a local outlet that actually carried a Gueuze. Multiple stops finally yielded the Oude Cuvee Rene, which came with a cap and cork.
I steamed the mussels about five minutes per the recipe and all but one opened. I sauteed them with garlic, celery and shallots. Since this was the tasting course, I served about six of them along with a healthy portion of the gueuze broth. In the end, the mussels were cooked fine and tasted like mussels, but the gueuze was largely cancelled in the process. The broth wasn’t really salty like soup, but not a total non-factor like water. Just not much flavor. On to the next course.
>The Salad. To save time, I bought a bagged arugula salad kit, one that came with corn, walnuts and buttermilk 
ranch dressing. [I know…heresy. Forgive me Ina.] I have paired salads and creamy dressings with light beers in the past with good results, so here, I was testing the idea that bright beers with light carbonation can cleanse the palate when eating fatty food. I was hoping the pilsner would cleanse the ranch dressing away.
I am pleased to say that “yes, it did!” This was a good match. The bready malt flavor of the pilsner was in some ways enhanced by the salad. Perhaps the corn kernels added a bit of sweet to the salad, resonating with the beer. I didn’t get any strong flavor of the arugula itself, which I was somewhat expecting. Strange as it seems, beer and salad DO go together! This was a good pairing.
>Butterkase Cheese. I paired this with the Ballast Point Kolsch. In a word, meh. The cheese was certainly creamy enough and the kolsch certainly bright enough, but this was not very interesting. I guess the role of the beer here was to cleanse the palate, but since this was what I experienced in the last course, this seemed unnecessary to the menu.
>Cornish Game Hen with Sage Stuffing. I’ve paired sage stuffing with pork chops and beer in the past, so I was experimenting here, trying to recreate what worked in the past. The earthy sage can be really strong, so here I wanted to pair with something from its “flavor family”–a concept I picked up from Mosher’s Tasting Beer. I went with North Coast’s Brother Thelonious Belgian.
Glad I did. Bam! This was the highlight of the night. The maltiness of the belgian was really enhanced by the stuffing. The hen was only lightly seasoned and likely a bit player here, but the sage in the stuffing hit all the right notes on the beer. Honestly, one of the best bottles of Brother Thelonious I’ve ever had…and I like Brother Thelonious…a lot. Winner winner, cornish game hen dinner.
>Carrot Cake. As I said above, everything I read indicated you should pair carrot cake with IPAs and other hoppy beers. After my beer dinner, I don’t get it. This pairing was awful. Maybe it is because I went with Hangar 24’s Betty IPA (I was torn between that and Founder’s All Day IPA) but the cake really aggravated the beer. It was like I was drinking a Gose. Overly sour. Sigh.
In sum:
- Cornish Game Hen with Sage Stuffing and North Coast Brother Thelonious Belgian Ale: 5/5
- Arugula Salad with Buttermilk Ranch and Weihenstephaner Pilsner: 4/5
- Mussels steamed in Oude Cuvee Rene Gueuze: 2.5/5
- Butterkase Cheese with Ballast Point Kolsch: 2/5
- Carrot Cake with Hangar 24 Betty IPA: 1/5
I’ll try again in spring!
Prost!