What's For Dinner? Beer is for Dinner.

What better time to talk about beer and food than with the holidays coming up? We enjoy wine with a good meal just as much as everyone else, but we hate the perception that beer should not be paired with anything except pizza. Unless you are still drinking that macro crap, you can enjoy beer with a wide variety of food.

This Seattlest is currently reading "The Brewmaster's Table", written by Garrett Oliver, the renowned brewmaster of Brooklyn Brewery and a general beer genius. While we have a sense of what beers go well with certain types of food, the knowledge that this man lays forth is impressive.

"I love wine and frequently enjoy it with my meals. But I've never enjoyed wine with all the types of food that I actually eat every day. A roast rack of lamb? Sure, I'd love to have a bottle of Burgundy (though I know beers that will match the lamb just as well). But how about Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Middle Eastern, Indian , and Cajun cuisine, and American barbecue? I love this stuff too, and I don't want wine with it. Yes, I've had all the wines that will supposedly match these foods. Guess what? They are a poor substitute for traditional beer. Why? Because spices distort wine flavors, turning white wines hot and red wines bitter. Because wine doesn't refresh the palate the way beer does. Because wine has no caramelized or roasted flavors to match those in our favorite dishes. And because, even according to wine experts, there are many foods that are simply no good with wine. "

That is quite a statement. He backs up the argument of drinking beer with your food in 350 pages worth of information and pairing advice that we've heard many brewers and foodies praise.

We are still in the learning stages of pairing beer with food, so we won't pretend to be experts. We do know that the most important thing to keep in mind is balance. A paired beer should compliment a meal, not overpower it. You wouldn't want to drink a heavy Imperial Stout with a delicate piece of fish, but a nice Saison or Pilsner would usually be a perfect combination.

Keep your eye out for some Thanksgiving beer and food pairing suggestions for early next week.

Thanks to mirkoshanghai on Flickr for the pic