Over the weekend at the Savor Craft Beer & Food Festival, the Altman Building in New York, beer enthusiasts sampled several well-conceived pairings of pints and plates, but it was the local (plus a few extremely hard-to-find) craft brews that undoubtedly stole the show. Below, a round up of the best pairings.
1. Devil’s Backbone “Striped Bass” Pale Ale served with freshly shucked Choptank oysters. The well-integrated hops and malt make the perfect smooth summer sipper out of a can. Great complement to cold, briny oysters with just a squeeze of lemon.
2. Oakshire Brewing “Frederic C. Noir,” an extremely limited release, served with a green tea panna cotta. A funky-tasting Saison brewed in the French farmhouse tradition, but with the unlikely addition of green tea and Pinot Noir barrel aging. Truly unique.
3. Shorts Brewing “Goodnight Bodacious” served with dark chocolate ganache infused with chilies. Great balance between the piney hops, and the dark chocolate malt make this Black IPA-style beer stellar with or without a chocolate dessert. This is an easy drinking beer, especially when considering its heavy 8.5% ABV.
4. No-Li Brewhouse “Jet Star” Imperial IPA served with a shortbread biscuit with Stilton and pear. Very smooth and extremely drinkable for a highly alcoholic IPA. The shortbread was a perfect complement to the malts, while the citrusy hops went nicely with the pear and Stilton.
5. Denver Beer Co. Rauchbier made with house smoked malts. I tried this one alongside a flavorful and nicely smoked pulled-pork dish. It was the most obvious pairing of the evening and did not disappoint. The beer itself almost resembles smoked pork, but with a light body so as not to make it too overwhelming.
