I love beer. I mean, I’m in my fourth decade of drinking the stuff. It’s thirst-quenching. It’s delicious. But these days, even as a food and drink journalist, it can be a struggle to keep up when confronted by pale ales, American pale ales, India pale ales, stouts, ambers, lagers, saisons, sours …
“The brewing industry has changed beyond recognition,” admits beer sommelier Annabel Smith, “with more beer styles than we’ve ever had before.”
While Annabel agrees it can be overwhelming, she’s keen to stress the positive side. “With such variety available, saying you don’t like beer is almost like saying you don’t like food.”
Annabel’s mission, as a beer sommelier, is to encourage people to try new things, beers they might not have considered before, and to find them something that will suit their palate.
The beer industry is doing exactly the same thing with their campaign There’s A Beer For That. Central to the campaign, and Annabel’s work, is to consider drinking beer, rather than wine, with food.
It’s an interesting point. While I’ll enjoy a beer socially, in a restaurant I’ll almost always default to wine. “Why?” asks Annabel, and I have no satisfactory answer. Habit? A lack of knowledge of which beers go with what food?
“That’s where There’s A Beer For That comes in,” explains Annabel. “We’re saying instead of opening a bottle of wine, why not try a beer? Beer has such variety, with so many different flavour profiles – and we’ll give you suggestions about food to go with them.”
It’s this gap in my knowledge that’s brought us together, and why we’re at the Clarence pub in Mayfair, with a selection of beers and small plates.
“It’s all about the three Cs,” Annabel tells me, passing me a weissbier (Bavarian wheat beer) and a little smoked salmon. “Cutting, complementing and contrasting”. It’s a fine pairing, the carbonation cutting through the salmon’s oiliness, the sweetness contrasting with the light smoke. “Weissbier is great with all sea food, and spice,” adds Annabel.
Next is a classic Czech lager with a deep caramel note – against a powerful English cheddar, it’s glorious. Decent, but less impressive – well, to my palate – is a pale ale with a scotch egg. “As a rule of thumb, a lot of British ales work with pies and roast beef,” adds Annabel.
We move to an India pale ale, stronger, more bitter, and hoppier than the standard pale ale. It’s not always my favourite beer but a piece of chilli chicken brings out the best in it. “It’s great with that creaminess of korma,” Annabel points out. Next up is my default beer for those “overwhelming” moments: stout. It’s utterly brilliant both with strong stilton and a chocolate brownie. “Try it with tiramisu,” adds Annabel, “or apple pie and custard.”
We finish with a strong Belgian ale and some brie. The cheese is a tad underpowered, so we reach for that creamy, punchy cheddar again - and my taste buds do a happy dance.
I head off with some new knowledge and new enthusiasm for beer – which is just as well as next time, it’s me that’s doing the pairings …
