WEEK 69--When beer is no longer just BEER

we heard of/have had food & wine pairing dinner/lunches--or for that matter--whisky( or other hard liquor) food pairing session..

Beer & food pairing? the general perception of beer being nothing more than just cold quick thirst quencher certainly don't help. That Beer can be a very delicious/complimenting/enhancing component of the whole food experience is almost Unheard of....

葡萄酒配搭食物是大家都知道，觉得理所当然的，喜欢美食或葡萄酒的朋友或多或少都试过上餐厅或自己在家做过WINE PAIRING这回事。

不过，绝少人会想到用啤酒搭配食物。（这是可以理解的，说到底，大厂啤酒的广告行销和四处可买到影响让很多人觉得啤酒只是一般解渴单调饮料，说不上什么配搭美食功能）

啤酒跟搭配食物扯不上关系？这是错误刻板印象。如果了解CRAFT BEER各类不同风格/类别的千变万化，肯定改观。

The truth is--with that many different styles of beers available--beer and food pairing can be so much fun--because of the varieties of taste profile available--the pairing choices available for beers are just amazing...

If you live in ASIA--there's obviously not many(or almost NONE) restaurant that promote food/beer pairing--hence it's very nice to know that if you were to be in Bangkok--you could go here to sample some gourmet food with beer pairing:-

in fact--- there's even an up coming event on food and beer pairing lining up nearby Bangkok in March

CRAFT BEER在本地以致亚洲还处于起步发展阶段，很少有人办啤酒配搭美食活动，不过，吃饭是人人需要的事，如果你住的城市没有可以参与的活动，可以在家自己试试配搭，或跟几个朋友一起凑钱找个餐厅玩配搭。

要怎么配搭才对？

其实啤酒配搭食物没有绝对方程式，一般来说，食物配搭可以用对比法（浓郁对清淡），或并行法（浓对浓，淡对淡，有点“以毒攻毒”的意味）。

比如说，有咸鱼腊肠鸡肉和浓郁酱油香味的瓦煲鸡饭可以配搭比较清淡的蔬果味SAISON农场风格啤酒，或麦芽味比较多些的PALE ALE，喜欢啤酒花香味/苦味多些的也可以配搭IPA之类的，反正没有一定方式。（喜欢浓对浓的朋友也可以考虑直接配搭黑啤）。

So--is there any rules or formula to food and beer pairing?the general consensus is that when it comes to food pairing--you either do Complementing( for example a sweet stout for chocolate dessert) OR a Contrasting( heavy food with light beer like saison or pale ale or lager) pairing...

又或者，喜欢蓝莓芝士的朋友可以考虑配搭不同口味的黑啤类，比如PORTER, STOUTS，或比利时STRONG ALE。

喜欢海鲜的朋友可以考虑配搭天然发酵果酸啤酒（LAMBIC），农场风格啤酒（SAISON）或者各式PILSNER， PALE ALE，喜欢麦芽甜味比较浓啤酒的可考虑德国风格WEISSBIER。

甜品类也可以配搭啤酒，比如浓郁巧克力类的可以直接“以毒攻毒”，配浓郁大黑啤就对，水果类的比如草莓蓝莓的可以配搭比利时浓啤或SAISON农场风格啤。

以上说的，只是些个人试吃经验，不是什么必跟方程式。

If you are a believer of what others say--then perhaps it's good to check out what's suggested for food-beer pairing on BEER ADVOCATE(along with some other website focusing on food pairing)--there will be some suggestions on which beers might go well with certain type of food/dessert --for examples--just salad alone--there's suggestion of 21 different styles of beers that could go well( or not so well?) with the salad. 

喜欢网上建议的，可以看看独立评酒网站BEER ADVOCATE的啤酒配搭食物建议栏，这是一个像是问答栏的页面，网站已经设好一些食物选项，只要选好食物，建议的啤酒类别就会出现。比如，选“猪肉”一项，可以配搭的啤酒类别就有15种，选“鱼类”的话，建议配搭的啤酒类别有23种，就连“沙拉”一项也有21种不同啤酒可以配搭。

However --with craft beer --one could just play around a little with one's own whims and fancies--just try to pair any beer you like with any food or dessert you like--sometimes they work out well--sometimes they don't--the fun part is you get to try and play mix master...

Personally--i have tried quite some different pairing of beers with food, for examples:-

- pork lark steam Crab with a Gueuze( with the bubbly sour lambic not just cutting down the fat but complimenting nicely the Umami of the crab)--of course you can also pair with some other styles of beers of your choices

-if you find a certain Belgium strong ale is slightly too sweet or strong for your palate--try eating some fresh fruits like strawberry or plum--the fresh fruits would help to ease off the beer--in a contrasting yet complimenting way...

有朋友说，当人们都视葡萄酒配搭美食为理所当然选择时，很多人没有注意到的是，CRAFT BEER各类不同风格啤酒可以天马行空的用不同蔬果，食材入酒，还可以把不同啤酒放入不同类别烈酒/葡萄酒桶内陈年增加风味变化。葡萄酒由始至终只是用着一样原材料--不同类别葡萄。所以说CRAFT BEER是更有趣好玩的食物配搭选择完全不为过。

在美国和欧洲一些城市，侍酒师这个名词不再只是单一指向葡萄酒侍酒师，近年发展已令不少原本只是注重葡萄酒配搭食物的餐厅注意到CRAFT BEER的多元化和趣味性，怎么建议啤酒配搭美食已经成为新的一门功课，啤酒，不再单纯只是拿来快快干杯的冷饮了。

The fact is--Craft beer is certainly NOT the MACRO BEER that you used to know all your life--it's so much more fun and exciting--and food pairing( or in a more casual or playful way of self-experimenting at home) definitely would add more fun..

With so many different styles you could ever imagine( if you are very new or never heard of craft beer)--just explore a little bit more with food--don't worry if you got it right or wrong--the fun part is all about exploring and trying out new pairings....

BEER as you have long known it to be---is NO LONGER only just beer--if you still think BEER is only BEER--welcome to the whole new world of craft beer...