Beer Pairings Made Easy
I stumbled across this nifty little tool the other day from the magical world wide interweb. GreatBrewers.com helps you pick the perfect beer for whatever you’re cooking with their Beer Sommelier food and beer pairing guide. I found the first main ingredient of “beans” to be a little disturbing, but the rest seemed informative and accurate. And if “pizza” is your main meal, then yep, pretty much any beer should do just fine.
Quick Taps
I can’t imagine how much bar revenue is lost due to the fact that no one in Milwaukee cares about the NFC Championship Game anymore.
Can’t wait for Bell’s Hopslam to be out and about in Milwaukee.
Barley Pop of the Week
I’m a big fan of the local brewery seasonals (I’m as giddy as a kid when Lakefront Pumpkin hits the shelves). Sprecher’s Winter Brew makes it a little easier to get through January and February in Wisconsin. Lately, I’ve been mentioning a lot of heavy beers with ABVs akin to rocket fuel. Winter Brew isn’t one. Sure, it’s a bock that looks dark in the glass. But while it doesn’t lack flavor, it doesn’t bite back…and it has a fairly manageable 5.75 percent ABV.
Photo courtesy of sprecherbrewery.com
Events Brewing
Speaking of beer pairings…beer dinners are all the rage. Quite a few were mentioned in Dish on Dining last week by restaurant critic extraordinaire Ann Christenson.
The Lakefront Hunters dinner is five courses that included rainbow trout, venison, duck crepes, bison sliders (oh my) and smoked boar sausage (yum) paired with Lakefront brews. Lakefront founder Jim Klisch will even be there to help explain the wonderful tastes you’re mixing. It’s Wednesday at INdustri Cafe (524 S. Second St., 414-224-7777) at 6 p.m. At just $45 per person, it’s a steal.
On Wednesday the Suds Club at The Bomb Shelter is sampling American Belgian-style ales.
The stouts and porters of New Holland Brewery, North Coast Brewery and Southern Tier Brewery are stepping into the ring for a head-to-head battle at a unique beer tasting at Ray’s Wine and Liquor (8930 W. North Ave., 414-258-9821) on Thursday. The cost is just $15. There are no losers in this battle.
Reading is good. Beer is good. Therefore, reading at a bar is good. Boswell Book Company teams up with Sugar Maple (441 E. Lincoln Ave., 414-481-2393) for “Pub-Lit” on Thursday night at 7 p.m. Book readings by authors Hannah Pittard (The Fates Will Find Their Way) and Patrick Somerville (The Universe in Miniature in Miniature) should keep you entertained while working your way through some of Sugar Maple’s 60 taps.
