Belgian Beer Tasting A Great Warm-up To Main Events
Am I supposed to have a buzz even before the first party?!
If it’s the San Diego Bay Wine and Food Festival – and it is – then heck yeah!
I emerged feeling this way after the Belgian Beer Tasting and Pairing on Friday afternoon, before even the big evening event and Saturday’s Grand Tasting.
Yes, it’s a Belgian Beer Buzz! And I didn’t even make it to any of the other wine and food events of the day.
The Belgian beer event consisted of pairing three beers of that county – Hoegaarden, Stella and Leffe – with cheeses and treats from master chef Daniel Joly, executive chef Mirabelle at Beaver Creek in Vail. At 20, he was named “Best Chef in Belgium.”
He’s a comedian, too. “I like cooking with beer,” he said. “You cook with wine and the bottle is gone. With beer, you still have five left.”
On the generally accepted culinary tradition of having white wine with fish and reds with meat: “I don’t know who came up with that. Probably a Frenchman.”
And this sweet line: “If you to Belgium you can’t make fun of beer or ‘joc-o-let’ (chocolate). It’s okay to make fun of your girlfriend, but not the beer or joc-o-let. That’s how important those two things are to us in Belgium.”
At the pairing, he was also informative.
For example, he informed the 30 or so participants in the intimate class that the glasses for each of the beers are designed by the brewmaster. Hoegaarden is thick to keep it cold, for instance. The Stella glass brings out the aroma of that particular beer. All the glasses have lines where foam is supposed to start to identify the perfect pour.
Don’t reduce beer when cooking, like you do for wine. That’s because with all the water in beer, it becomes bitter.
Hoegaarden is from Flemish side of Belgium. It was named after the small town in which it was created, and is the lighter of the three beers featured at this event. You pour it into the specially-designed glass at 30-degree angle and pause to swirl the bottle hallway through the pour.
As for the Kiona salad and shrimp pairing with Hoegaarden, one word: Delicious!
For Stella, the flagship beer of the In-Bev beer company, Joly made a BBQ sauce with the beer. Sensational!
Leffe, made in 1200s, the oldest of the three beers. The building is so old it smells of yeast and “you get a buzz just walking from in the hallway,” Joly joked.
The soft, pungent cheese he served proved to be an excellent pairing with the strong Leffe. It was Irish cheese made with beer. Well that’s why!
To wrap up, the jolly Joly left us with these wise words:”In Europe people often think of beer as a food. In this country, beer is an activity.”
I’ll drink to that, most certainly!
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