Craft Beer + Food = Delicious
When you think of having a night out at the Tyee Yacht Club, the first things that springs to mind I'm sure is not, "What beer will I pair my braised lamb with on this fine Seattle evening?"
Likely, you're aware of the plethora of wine and food events that happen at hoity-toity wine bars and fine dining establishments. But, we in the beer world are also seeing a new, exciting trend here in the Pacific Northwest. With the upswing (read: inundations) of craft beer in our region, beer is the new wine and pairing food with beer is on the rise.
One such event that made a fine showing last night was Craft Beer + Food organized and presented by the folks at Washington Beer Blog, Kendall and Kim Jones. The couple have been involved heavily in the Washington craft beer industry for years, created their own beer-related charity (Beer Church) and this year decided to organize an event based out of their love of delicious local beer and food. Tickets went on sale back in August and sold out within a few weeks, so there was a full showing of beer and food lovers of all ages and knowledge levels. The event benefited the Just Garden Project, which had a booth at the event and lots of Brewery swag give-aways. 
Highlights of the evening included a pairing of the Ram's Saison with a grilled salmon presented beautifully in banana leaves by the Triple Door. The richness of the saison really brought out the light, creamy flavor of the salmon -- a most excellent flavor combination. For beer, my favorite was by far the Thor's Equinox which is an extremely small batch beer by Odin Brewing. The dark Belgian strong ale is a perfect beer release for the season, bringing out all the best things about fall in liquid form. This particular brew is quite difficult to come by (they only brew it 30 barrels at a time) so it was a treat to have a tasting of it beside my braised lamb from Quinn's Pub. And for dessert: An American Brewing Oatmeal Stout beer float with malt ice cream care of Seatown Seabar.
From a beer drinker's standpoint, I'd say pairing beer with food is a perfect way to get some of our wine-drinking, cocktail toting friends out there to think about beer differently. I for one do not often drink beers of the Indian Pale Ale (IPA) variety, but I sure drank plenty last night because frankly, IPAs do pair nicely with a good beer brat or a pulled-pork sandwich. I'm certainly hoping that we see a rise in beer plus food tastings at local venues and at the breweries themselves (some already do this!) Having gone to many beer events in the last couple of years, this one drew out a true diversity and lots of shiny happy new faces -- which is a good sign. New blood in the beer community is something all us Pacific Northwest beer aficionados strive to see. So I'm counting this as a win for the community. Cheers to Kendall and Kim for helping to start the revolution that will hopefully only gain more and more momentum!
Viva la craft beer!
