Holiday Brews

Holiday Brews

INTRODUCTION
In American gastronomy, beer has for too long been relegated to backyard barbecues and regarded as too pedestrian for enhancing gourmet meals. Thanks to the reintroduction of a wide variety of beers brewed in Old World traditions, however, beer is now worthy to be on the formal dinner table. Although it is not likely to assume wine's role in the food-and-drink mating game, today beer offers a surprisingly agreeable alternative. The proliferation of microbreweries across the United States and an increasing number of imported beers have made choices plentiful — and potentially intimidating. There are conceivably an infinite number of interesting and enjoyable pairings of beer with food.

ALES AND LAGERS
Beer, like wine, is produced in many styles. As reds and whites represent the major classifications of wine, beers similarly group into ales and lagers. Ales might be described as the red wines of the beer world: they tend to be dark, robust, and appeal to those with a more experienced palate. Lagers, on the other hand, can be thought of as the white-wine equivalent: they are generally lighter in body and flavor, and they have a narrower flavor profile, which helps them to appeal to a wider audience. But just as wine types offer a wide variety of subcategories, so do ale and lager — sweet to dry, mild to aggressive, simple to complex, and light- to full-bodied. Whenever and wherever a wine is called upon to complement a dish, there is always a respectable and delectable equivalent to be found in the world of beer.

APERITIFS
All meals, "holiday" or not, should be preceded by an apéritif beer, and none satisfies quite like a dry, hoppy Pilsner lager or pale golden ale. Either of these styles offers a floral bouquet and piquant bitterness that arouse the appetite. Acidic beers also stimulate the gastric juices, and few are as acidic as the light and champagne-like Berliner Weiss. This northern German beer style can be aggressively tart, so consider adding a dash of grenadine, Triple Sec, or similarly sweet fruit liqueur to the glass (as is commonly done in Berlin). Doing this not only cuts the beer's brisk acidity, it also enhances the ability of Berliner Weiss to pair with fresh fruit compotes, chutneys, or relishes, if these are featured on your table.

Cheeses, veggies, and cured meats (along with bread) are typically offered as hors d'oeuvres, and these can run the gamut of flavors, textures, and even serving temperatures. Good all-purpose beers to serve with with aged cheeses or raw vegetables include earthy Belgian Trappist ales, while German Dunkels (sweet dark lagers) work wondrously with all types of sausages and coarse breads. Beer is, after all, liquid bread.

NIGHTCAPS
Whichever holiday you are celebrating, once the party has wound down and your remaining guests adjourn to the comfort of sofas and easy chairs, it's time to bring on "winter warmers." These aptly named libations are perfect nightcaps for stay-over guests. To keep Old Man Winter at bay, pour out snifters of barley wine, old ale, Russian imperial stout, or — despite its frigid connotation — Eisbock. All of these beer styles are particularly rich and somewhat sweet. The barley wine and old ale are malty and fruity, while the imperial stout offers an espresso-like, dark-grain complexity. The Eisbock, the only lager in this bunch, is smooth and mellow with a throat-warming finish. Tipping the scales at around eight to twelve percent alcohol, these spirited, heavyweights are the ports and brandies of the beer world.

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