Beer with food is a winner

Sadly, there are always folk prepared to scoff at the suggestion that the world of beer can offer as rewarding a match with most foods as wine. This week’s column is just for them.

Having long accepted that I’m unlikely to convince the sceptics, given the chance I take great delight in challenging them with the opinion of one the world’s most respected wine commentators. Having become the first person outside the wine trade to become a Master of Wine, Jancis Robinson was awarded an OBE in 2003.

Surprisingly, England’s most famous female ‘‘confirmed lover of fermented grape juice’’ (her words) experienced her ‘‘beer epiphany’’ (also her words) in 2005 at the hands of a Frenchman – none other than Michel Roux Jr, son of culinary legend Albert Roux.

Best known as the head chef at the Michelin two star-rated Le Gavroche restaurant in Mayfair, London, Roux is passionate about matching food with beers, and has written a book on the subject. It was to this end he served up a sixcourse meal, each course matched with what he proposed as a suitable wine partner, and a suitable beer. Ms Robinson reviewed the meal in a column for the UK’S Financial Times, which was subsequently also published on her own website.

Course 1: ‘‘The sauce with the moules mariniere (mussels in white wine with chopped shallots, parsley, thyme and a bay leaf) was so strongly wine-based that even the magnificently named Gulpener Korenwolf Dutch wheat beer (the pale, fruity, aromatic style that I normally like, even in its massmarket Hoegaarden format) stood no chance’’ she noted. ‘‘Radcliffe’s Muscadet sur Lie 2004 was the dish’s natural partner.’’ BEER Not a great start for beer then. Course 2: In her review Robinson found Villa Maria Reserve Pinot Noir 2003 from Marlborough, ‘‘rich and delicious with the Scotch-style [sic] lamb stew, while that old chestnut, the distinctly floral Worthington White Shield seemed simply too sweet for this savoury dish.’’

A great result for a Kiwi wine, but more bad news for beer.

Course 3: By contrast, Edinburgh’s Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer – a Scottish ale, which is aged in bourbon casks – meets her approval; ‘‘Clearly aimed at those who seek flavour above all else, it is a deep caramel colour with apple-fresh acidity as well as mellow richness’’. She concedes, ‘‘This rich beer went strangely well with our spicy, creamy chicken satay … and, I have to admit, knocked the New Zealand riesling into whatever a cocked hat is.’’ Beer strikes back. Course 4: ‘‘The other, perhaps surprising, triumph was that of a beer brewed using a champagne yeast over Taittinger NV‘‘, she notes. The beer, a lager called Kasteel Cru, is the product of collaboration between American brewers and French winemakers. ‘‘At 5.2 per cent alcohol and with an extremely fresh, dry finish, this elegant lager made the Champagne seem rather heavy and plodding as an aperitif with our featherlight cheese straws.’’ (Although the beer in question was a one-off, several Kiwi brewers make beers using similar techniques.) Beer levels the score. Course 5: The next course brought together a range of robust flavours. ‘‘Rare peppered tuna with ginger and sesame dressing was going to present a challenge to any drink served with it. The Grant Burge Barossa Vines Chardonnay 2004 tasted just too fat and oily with such an energetic dish. The sweet and briskly sour Liefmann’s Kriek Cherry Beer was a better match …’’ Beer takes the lead. Course 6: ‘‘With stilton and brie, Michel really got into his beery stride and served both the spicy, hoppy Grolsch lager and Brakspear Triple’’, a 7.2 per cent, bottle-conditioned, English old ale, which Robinson goes on to describe as ‘‘a rich, nutty marvel’’. She notes, ‘‘Even Grant Burge Barossa Valley Shiraz 2003 paled into insignificance alongside the old ale – which did indeed make a fine partner for the stilton. The pair of them made me feel quite proud to be English.’’

Good news for beer and bad news for all those who think wine is the natural partner for cheese.

In her review of the meal Ms Robinson noted, ‘‘At the end of this selfless and, needless to say, ruthlessly clinical research project, I can reveal that in only two out of the six cases did I prefer the wine to the beer. A result for brewers everywhere!’’

Surprised at her own findings she concluded, ‘‘I’m sure that to those who know a bit about beer, this is akin to Michael Jackson (the noted English beer writer) announcing that he has just discovered a rather pleasant wine called Champagne. But please bear with me … I am trying to spread the word to the other, grapebesotted camp.’’

Thanks Jancis. Cheers!