Make sure to Invite Craft-Beer to your Next Cookout.
As a homebrewer the onset of grilling season holds mixed feelings for me. On one hand it will be getting too warm to brew and on the other hand warm weather is perhaps the best time for real craft beer to shine. I’ll give you three reasons why you should always invite craft beer to your spring or summer cookouts. Marinating, steaming and of course drinking…
Let’s start with marinating. I am not talking about simply replacing the “other” liquid in a typical marinade with a can of Bud. I am talking about using a real craft beer that can deliver something besides “wet” to your marinade. Since many craft beers are highly aromatic, they are great as steaming liquid. When it’s warm outside ( and we are waiting!), beer is king. Nothing delivers the range of flavors along with refreshing bitterness and fizziness like beer. I am sure the first thing you want do when you finish mowing your lawn is quaff down a nice cool glass of chardonnay…Yeah right!
Marinating - (Here’s a good one to try on grilled chicken or even lighter fish.) Blue Moon Belgian white ale or Great Lakes Holy Moses white ale will add a fantastic citrus coriander kick to chicken or lighter fish. A little fresh garlic clove, orange or lemon zest and a bit of black pepper will add dimension to the flavor. Marinade the chicken for at least 8 hours, but the fish only needs an hour or two. Grill and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a side of fresh tabouli and a glass of the white ale. Bring on the heat!
Steaming- (How about steamed shrimp in steam beer?) Anchor Steam is yummy beer and it can make yummy steamed shrimp. Start with a bottle of Anchor Steam in the steamer and reduce that to about half volume. Add another bottle of beer, a few bay leaves and a fair amount of salt and pepper and a dash of Old Bay (or celery seed). Add your shrimp to steam. The reason we reduce the beer is to concentrate the bitterness and caramel aromas of the beer, but we drive off many of the hop aromas. We add more beer just before we steam to get the hop aromas we want. If you are going to “boil” your shrimp, just go with non-reduced beer, we don’t want the reduced “bitter” beer to be in contact with shrimp while boiling. Freshly made cocktail sauce or spicy chutney/relish is highly recommended.
Drinking – Let’s start with brunch. Weissbier (Hefeweizen) and White Ale (Witbier) are excellent beers to be served with any kind of egg, quiche or omelet dish. Weissbier in particular pairs well with breakfast sausages and ham. Find yourself a bottle of Ayinger Brau-weiss and pour it properly into the proper glass and you may never serve mimosas or white wine for brunch again.
For most Mexican fare, a good beer choice is Negra Modelo. This well-made Mexican amber lager is based on the Vienna lager style. Negra Modelo works with most summer grill fare, though it cannot do hot and spicy foods as well as hoppier beers. It is considered to be the best Mexican beer and is another world when compared to typical Corona swill (no lime needed). Real Pilsener beers like Pilsener Urquell or Penn Pilsener also do well here.
Burgers need a beer that will hold up to the fat and the toppings. For basic toppings, Sam Adams Boston lager is usually a good choice. For spicier toppings or spicier meats, American Pale ales like Great Lakes Burning River or Sierra Nevada do better. If you like darker beer, Saranac Black and Tan (really a porter) can hold up to a lot of grilled meats.
Hot Dogs… I believe those are a lot like knockwurst! This means German beer. How about Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold, Penn Gold or Ayinger Jahrhundert Helles beer? The beer choice will also depend on whether or not you take your dog WV style. If you run with the chili and slaw crowd, you might go for something like Redhook ESB, Saranac Pale Ale or even a hoppier pale ale if its gotta have minced onion on top!
Every beer recommended can be found here in the Charleston area. Although you may think you need to sink the beer in an ice chest before serving, craft beers are to be served “cool,” never ice cold, which suppresses the flavor. Pouring beer into a “non-frosted” serving glass always enhances the flavor by allowing your guest to experience the beer’s aroma while drinking. After all, our mouths can only taste 4 or 5 distinct flavors; our sense of smell does the rest.
