Saturday, November 10, 2012

Eat, Drink and Be Larry: Favorite Beers with Favorite Foods

Everyone talks about wine pairings with food. Listen, I enjoy a suitable glass of wine with whatever meal I'm having (OK, whatever dinner I'm having. Maybe a little inappropriate for breakfast and lunch). Some of us enjoy beer, too. I've found that may dishes work almost as well with a good beer as they do with a glass of wine. So, as a not-so-little cheat sheet, here is a catalog of some of my favorite beers with some of my favorite meals.

Steak

Style: Imperial Stout
Top Choice: Serpent's Stout by the Lost Abbey

For several years I've been convinced that the best restaurant for a steak is right in my backyard on my charcoal-fired Weber grill. Montreal seasoning does the trick...it's that simple and available at your regular grocery store. After propping the thick (~2-3") strip or ribeye upright to let the fat side burn to a crisp for about 90 seconds, I hit the other edge for about a minute and sear on each flat side for about 3:30. The result is a nicely-charred piece of meat that's still nicely rare and juicy on the inside.

Of course, everyone knows that a nice Cabernet with loads of tannin is the perfect complement to a steak...no argument here. BUT...there are quite a few solid stouts that are up to the job. Serpent's Stout is by far the best of the lot. The char of the dark malts (with an absence of astringency typical of black patent malt) tie in nicely with the char of the steak, while a rich sweetness on the finish meshes perfectly with the juiciness of the meat. Tomme Arthur of Lost Abbey has provided us with the best...steak beer...ever. No need to polish off the entire bottle by yourself...it comes in 750s and clocks in at 11% ABV. Have a glass each with your dining partner and alternate between stout and the glass of Cab that's sitting right next to it...in the privacy of your own home, of course. Try it...you won't be disappointed.

If you can't find Serpent's Stout, there are a number of others that work well:

Imperial Russian Stout, Stone Brewing Company
12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout, also from Stone Brewing Company (not may of these left in circulation, though)
Imperial Stout Trooper, New England Brewing Company
Ten FIDY, Oskar Blues
Cadillac Mountain Stout, Bar Harbor/Atlantic Brewing Company
Expedition Stout, Bell's Beer
Black Ops, Brooklyn Brewery
Black Chocolate Stout, Brooklyn Brewery

For the record, my favorite Cab with steak has been a 2001 bottle of Larkmead. For every day consumption, Concha y Toro Marques de Casa Concha from Chile runs $15-18 at Costco and works just fine.


Burgers

Style: Belgian Dark Strong Ale or American Dark Strong Ale
Top Choice: Maudite, Unibroue

There are a lot of ways you can go with a beer and a burger; lots of stuff works. However, Maudite works far and away better than others. It may be kind of surprising that a beer from Quebec does wonders with one of America's staples, but it's true. The moderately dark Belgian malt of a Maudite, coupled with the traditional spice profile, make perfect complements to a hamburger fresh off the grill.

Others deserving of mention:
Cold Front, Ithaca Brewing Company
Sixth Glass, Boulevard Brewing Company


Lasagna

Style: Brown Ale, Amber Ale, American Dark Strong Ale (but not a hoppy version)
10 Commandments, Lost Abbey

Lasagna and traditional red sauce Italian are problematic for beer pairings to many. Many people cringe at the thought of beer with Italian food. Italian = red wine. It has to be this way, right? As with steak, such fare is best paired with solid red wines of the region...but if you are insistent on a beer pairing, you really can't go wrong with 10 Commandments. It's a deep dark ale with a hint of rosemary. Be careful, though...at ~10.3% ABV it packs a bit of a punch. Still, it works very well. I'm not sure why Lost Abbey manages to get this honor twice, but it does. Coincidence? I don't think so; Lost Abbey beers seem to work very well with food...perhaps its the hint of various spices found in many of their offerings.

Absent 10 Commandments, I'd prefer a somewhat inert amber to brown ale that has enough heft to withstand the heartiness and spice found in such cuisine and to serve as a sponge for the flavors of the dish. Some possibilities:

Great Pumpkin Ale, Cambridge Brewing Company
Attic and Eaves, Slumbrew Brewing Company

Chili

Style: American Dark Strong Ale or Stout
Top Choice: Dark Truth, Boulevard Brewing Company

An awesome fall to winter comfort food, chili brings about all kinds of warmth as winter approaches. Big chili flavors deserve a big beer with a hint of smoke. Dark Truth by Kansas City's Boulevard Brewing Company fits the bill. It has a hint of sweetness to balance the heat and just enough smoked malt to add as a complement to all of the onions, hot peppers and beans (not to mention beef) in a traditional pot of chili. Go ahead and add a few ounces to your pot as well to bring about a more smoky taste should you prefer.

backburner, Southern Tier Brewing Company
Bigfoot Barley Wine, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company

Pork

Style: Belgian Strong Pale Ale or Tripel
Top Choice: Don de Dieu, Unibroue

Some brewers happen to churn out beers that go really well with food. Lost Abbey is one, and so is Unibroue. This light-colored yet strong Belgian-style ale is perfect with the delicate underlying flavors of a roast loin of pork, while the mild sweetness complements the more bold savory elements of black pepper, rosemary and whatever else you throw in there. DdD also works well with BBQ pork ribs fresh out of the smoker...although for that you may want something a little bolder (such as the Sixth Glass by Boulevard mentioned above). Other possibilities:

Long Strange Tripel, Boulevard Brewing Company
Duvel

Lobster

Style: American Wild Ale (a pale, very dry version with more sour than funk) or Saison
Top Choice: Brute, Ithaca Brewing Company

Well, not a lot cuts the 2 lbs. of butter involved in ingesting "the cockroach of the sea" as Mainers (Mainahs?) so deftly put it as Champagne or other dry, sparkling wines. However, the dry sourness of Ithaca Brute (not coincidentally, finished with Champagne yeast) brings about a nice substitute. Keep an open mind because the Brett-tinged "sours" may not be for everybody, but Brute is a little shorter on funk and longer on tart. If you don't have access to or aren't into sours, use a really dry Saison...and I mean dry. Possibilities:

d'Erpe-Mere, De Glazen Toren
Carnevale, Lost Abbey
Saison de Lente, The Bruery (this gives you a sour hint of Brett found in the Brute with a traditional Saison feel)

Thai dishes

Style: Tripel
Top Choice: Trade Winds Tripel, The Bruery

This may be a little cop-out since Trade Winds is brewed with Thai basil, but screw it. It works, as do most Tripels with Thai food. As with the dryness of a Saison with the heft and creaminess of lobster, the mild sweetness of a Tripel cuts through the thick curries and coats, soothes and relieves the sometimes extreme heat of spicy Thai dishes. Of course, the Thai basil of Trade Winds sews a common thread across the table. Other winners include:

Tripel Karmeliet
Long Strange Tripel, Boulevard Brewing Company (just like the old lady in the Frank's Red Hot Sauce commercial, "I put that $#!+ on everything!")
Allagash Tripel, Allagash Brewing Company
Tripel Threat, Cambridge Brewing Company

Indian Food

Style: Tripel, Saison, Hefeweizen or Pilsener
Top Choice: Hennepin, Ommegang

Many Indian dishes are heartily spiced and carry a fair amount of heft. Accordingly, a somewhat spritely Saison with a hint of spciness works nicely to lighten the load on your stomach. Hennepin is a reasonably-priced and readily available straight ahead Saison that's dry enough to give your palate a breather but not so dry that it becomes astringent. It works great with chicken tikka masala as an example. Other solid complements of note:

Saison Vos, Sly Fox Brewing Company
Mamma's Little Yella Pils, Oskar Blues Brewing Company
Weihenstephaner Hefeweizen, Weihenstephan (sic?)

Thanksgiving Dinner

Style: American Brown Ale, American Dark Strong Ale, Saison, Dubbel

Top Choice: Autumn Maple, The Bruery

C'mon now. The thing's brewed with yams. What's not to like? Patrick Rue and the peeps at The Bruery pretty much made this for Thanksgiving. Deep, dark malt meshes with a hint of yammy sweetness and slides in perfectly between the blunt savory goodness of turkey, stuffing and gravy and the sour and sweet of cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes. A Saison (by now you realize that Saisons go well with a lot of different foods) takes a different tack by bringing along some bright airiness to the meal. Don't go for an ultra-dry Saison here; something with a little more meat on the bone will do the trick.

Allagash Fluxus 2009, Allagash Brewing Company (brewed once so if it's in your cellar, good for you)
Sgt. Pepper, Cambridge Brewing Company
Westmalle Dubbel

Mexican Food

Style: Imperial/Double IPA

Top Choice: Stone IPA

Stone IPA is to beer what Tim Wakefield used to be to the Red Sox pitching staff. He could start, be a long man or even close if he had to. You could slot that guy in anywhere. Add his continuous and generous contributions to the Boston community and the guy was just a solid dude. Stone IPA is the same way. It'll work at the beach, for dinner, with pizza...anywhere. I like it with tacos and other Mexican fare. The hoppiness works nicely and it's about as easy-drinking of an IPA you'll ever come across. Heftier double/Imperial IPAs work nicely here too. Stone IPA is available just about everywhere but other solid choices include:

Double Wide IPA, Boulevard Brewing Company
Ruination, Stone Brewing Company (Stone IPA's big bad-@$$ brother)

I'll probably add to this list so please feel free to take a look every once in a while. A lot of food categories (examples: pizza, seafood) are so vast that it really depends on the specifics of what's on the plate. In any event, don't be shy to try some new stuff out with your meals. Maybe enjoy a glass each of beer AND wine with your meal (all the while drinking responsibly, of course) to see how each play off your meal. Cheers!

Friday, November 9, 2012

Dear Mitt: Flip the Big Bird to the Public Sector and Buy the Red Sox

After Tuesday's election showing, Mitt Romney told reporters that "he's not going away." Well, that's good to hear, Mitt. Many of us find the notion of a shrewd executive doing his best to make government run like a for-profit business with stuff like budgets and spending controls quite refreshing. However, Mitt may want to "explore other opportunities" that he may find more rewarding and less draining (both emotionally and financially) than his quest for public service. If I was Mitt's career coach (and he thanks his personal God that I'm not), here are a few ideas I'd float to the Man from Belmont:

Flip the Big Bird to the Public Sector

OK, Mitt...Newt Gingrich nailed you on this one during one of the primary debates. As you mentioned that you've been in the private sector, Newt popped off that if you had your way, you wouldn't have been because you've been running for office since 1994 when you spent ~$50 million running for Senate against Ted Kennedy. The only reason you weren't in the public sector is that you LOST. Let's see...

1994 Senate (L)
2003 Governor (W)
2008 President (L)
2012 President (L)

Dude...you're 1-3. Tony Danza's character on Taxi had a better boxing record than your election record. Let's stop spending the family fortune on losing elections and...

Slip into a cozy chair at Bain and get back to work

You want to make a real difference? How about getting back to what you do best...making boatloads of money. Why not? You can still do this and a Special Situations fund with your name all over it would leave a much more enjoyable legacy for your family than a ~$100+ million spent on elections with questionable results. Build and run a successful fund and replenish your family's legacy wealth. There are plenty of Special Situations around to refurbish, enhance and return to prosperity. You could make a much greater difference in this capacity than banging your head against the table because you have to listen to Lizzie Warren for the next four years. Once the investment period in the Bain Special MITTuation Fund wanes down and deals begin to roll off, maybe you can concentrate on what will most likely be the ultimate Special Situation...

Buy the Boston Red Sox

The drain is circling on the Sox right now. Sure, baseball ops can do their best to cobble together a competitive squad and slowly bring them back to contention. However, as long as Larry Lucchino is involved with that organization, he'll have a hand in baseball ops and will ultimately do something to &*(% them up. John Henry and Tom Werner won't combat him, so Boston is stuck with him and a dysfunctional ownership. This can't end well. How it will end is with an angry fan base and a franchise value about 20% off the Pink Hat peak from a year or so ago. What better special situation than the Boston Red Sox around 2017? By then turnaround artist Mitt will be ready for a new challenge. C'mon man...it'll be right there waiting for you. You thought turning around the Olympics was rewarding? Just wait...