A Week of Grilling And Beer - Day 5

Ok. Last one, I promise. Anyway, I think you get the point. There are plenty of experts out there any of whom could have prevented the travesty that spurred this entire series.

So, with all of that out of the system. One last day of beer and grilling recommendations for your BratFest Memorial Day weekend.

First up, Randy Lee, brewmaster of Viking Brewery in Dallas, WI. A mere 3.5 hours from Madison, Dallas, Wisconsin (pop. 356), the home of Viking Brewery, is situated solidly in the North-Woods of Wisconsin, nestled between the Missippi River and Prairie Lake.

Hot Chocolate makes excellent Chili, so it would probably make for some good BBQ. Nathan Berg up here at Native Bay does a pig marinated in Invader for that day that is reaaaaaaaaaaly good. I'd think Berserk would make a pretty good glaze also.

While perhaps best known for their big, heavy ... well ... Viking-like beers, Mr. Lee's suggestions are all great for making your BBQ. A nice, sweet chocolate-y glaze for that pork roast; marinated meats in the malty and complex doppelbock; an intensely sweet barleywine to baste that chicken in. And you can wash it all down with a Queen Victoria's Secret or Dim Wit.

Over on the East Side of Madison, the guys at Ale Asylum are fighting over ribs.

For us, you can’t beat the dry rubbed ribs our assistant brewer Brian Schoop makes. He makes his dry rub with fresh ground spices and lets the ribs season in the fridge for at least a day. He’ll slap ‘em on the Weber in the back of the brewery and cook them so they meat doesn’t so much as fall off the bone as leap from it. Brian will challenge anybody who puts sauce on them to a knife fight.

Meanwhile, we’re drinking Hopalicious and mocking him incessantly. The big hop flavor and citrus notes of the Hopalicious pair nicely with the rich smokey flavor of the ribs. The mocking keeps his head from exploding when us meatatarians start openly drooling.

You can't go wrong with the Hopalicious, a supremely drinkable American pale ale. And, it makes me want to pull around back and sneak some ribs off of that grill. This is what summer is all about.

Finally, Milwaukee represent! Russ Klisch, brewmaster at the infamous Lakefront Brewery finishes things:

According to Garrett Oliver, from his book "The Brewmasters Table", our East Side Dark is a beer with a deep reddish-brown color and a bready malt aroma adorned with rich chocolate notes. The bitterness is firm but balances very nicely against round, sweetish malts in a smooth, almost oily center. Soft chocolate and caramel lead into a long, dry, clean finish, with nuts and cocoa in the aftertaste. It's an excellent beer, and a real winner with grilled steaks, burgers, venison, Cajun blackened pork chops and Mexican mole dishes.

I couldn't agree more with Garrett, that my favorite beer to drink while I grill, especially hearty meats, is our East Side Dark.

My wife, who is Asian, likes to add spice to the grill menu. One of her favorite things to grill is chicken satay, which has an almost dry rub of curry flavors -- including coriander, cumin, white pepper, galangal ginger and lemongrass. It's accompanied with cold sliced cucumber and red onions and a peanut sauce dip that has many of the same spices. She's even made it with a healthy dash of our Cream City Pale Ale for the added hoppiness. The same beer, with its malty backbone, is therefore a good enhancement and balance for this grill item.

Another favorite is grilled seafood such as skewered spicy shrimp with adobe sauce or mussels and lime leaves cooked with - more beer. In both instances, we've paired it with our Riverwest Stein that gives off a mellow, malty sweetness.

You know, I'm beginning to regret having run this series, there is no room in my summer for improvisation - I have my entire summer planned food and beer-wise. Chicken-Curry Satay, sliced cucumber and red onions, steamed mussels, cajun-blackened pork chops.

I hope you enjoyed this series of posts. All of the suggestions were fantastic and the enthusiasm of all of the participants comes through. If you're reading this from somewhere other than Wisconsin, hopefully it's inspired you to go out and grab some of your local brews that fit the bill. If you're reading from Wisconsin, well, you now have a summer menu.

Post your own pairing recommendations in the comments and Happy Memorial Day. Thank you to all of the men and women who have fought and given their lives so that we can enjoy these summer weekends with our families on safe shores.

A Week of Grilling and Beer - Day 4

Yesterday we talked with a couple of brewpub brewers.

Today, we have just one guest, Lucy Saunders. She has, quite literally, written the book on grilling with beer. The book is called, unsurprisingly, "Grilling With Beer" and you can order it from her website. Her books not only suggested beers to be paired with your grilled food, but also recipes for including beer in your food.

Ms. Saunders suggests that one of the best reasons to use beer in your BBQ sauce is because "beer is much less acidic than wine, vinegar or citrus juices commonly used in BBQ sauces and marinades. It will tenderize meats without breaking down texture as rapidly as more powerful acids." Moreover, "from apricot ale to witbier, there's a flavor that matches a meat, chicken or seafood sauce destined for the grill."

Here's what Lucy recommends for that Memorial Day BBQ:

My favorite style for grilled foods in spring is an unfiltered black wheat ale or dunkelweizen - it's a bit crisp on the palate, with some tart yeast notes and enough dark malt to meld with the seared and smoky flavors of most of my favorite grilled foods.

You can find recipes for everything from grilled vegetables to beer-based marinades from her new cookbook, The Best of American Beer & Food

The dunkelweizen is an interesting style. While it is a dark beer, it is not a heavy beer. In fact, dunkels can often be very light. But, it is not a particularly popular style. I'm not aware of any major Wisconsin brewery that makes one - though there is a rumor floatin' about that Tyranena might try an Imperial Black Weizen beer. And Das Bierhaus, an authentic German brewpub in Menomonie, makes one.

A Week of Grilling And Beer - Day 3

So, here we are on Day 3. Yesterday, we talked to two retailers and they made some awesome suggestions. Before we get to today's guests, I want to add one more retailer response, Adam from Star Liquor.

When it comes to summer beers the options are many. I can think of no better way to spend a warm summer evening than with a cold brew and a flaming hot grill. In summer I often defer to beers that are lighter in color to help combat the heat and humidity that are so common here in Wisconsin for three months out of the year. Light in color thankfully doesn't have to mean light on flavor and while I see no sin in picking up an inexpensive 30 pack of some macro brew if I have to sate the thirst of a big group I still have high standards for myself. So here's a few personal favorite combos:

With burgers and brats:

Here is where it is important to have and utterly quaffable brew because just like I might have a few of each sandwiches I will also have a few of each brews. A couple of favorites include New Glarus Edel Pils and Capital's Special Pilsner.

With a great marinated or dry rubbed pork tenderloin:

In this case I tend to go for something with a bit of sweetness especially if the marinade is spicy. Lake Louie's Belgian Prairie Moon or Furthermore's Fatty Boombalatty fit the bill nicely.

If Steak is on the menu:

Here is where I cry out for more flavor and something with some good hop to it. Ale Asylum's Hopalicious and Central Waters Glacial Trail IPA both go down well with a hearty meal.

I know this list is skewed to the local and I could have chosen any number of brews from around the country or the world but here at Star we try to push the local guy first and we are lucky enough here in Madison to be surrounded by some great ones.

Happy Grilling.

Awesome! Great recommendations focused on local supremely drinkable beer; what your beer snob friends might call "session" beers.

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Today's next guests represent not only the best brewpub in the Madison area, but an up-and-coming brewer opening a new brewpub here in Madison.

Up first, brewer Mark "The Captain" Duchow is brewmaster at The Grumpy Troll out in Mount Horeb. Winner of numerous awards, his beers are at once highly skilled and refined, yet also completely approachable. As a brewmaster at a brewpub, he has years of experience crafting beers meant to be consumed not in isolation, but rather alongside the tastes and aromas of lunches and suppers.

My favorite BBQ is Texas slow "Cold Smoked" brisket and hot smoked oysters. But I also dig Carolina style, vinegar based and slow smoked pork, and of course there is nothing like the Midwestern sweet tomato BBQ chicken.

In Texas I drink a Lone Star with my Brisket and smoked oysters because of the fact that the only places you can get the best BBQ, they only sell Lone Star. I truly would love to pair up a true Texas BBQ with my Curly Peated Scotch Ale or the Spetsnaz Stout. But on the other hand on a hot Texas afternoon temps can reach 110 , a Lone Star is all I can handle.

The Carolina BBQ is pulled smoked pork in a semi sweet soupy vinegar sauce served with boiled potatoes and cornbread. I would pair up the Flanders Ned Ale, Ned is a traditional Flanders-style red ale fermented with both bacteria and yeast. It is fruity and tart, a must try.

I can see myself sitting in Fowler Park on a warm summer afternoon in my home town of Oconomowoc cooking over the grill with chicken drumstick smothered in sweet BBQ sauce and a Captain Fred in my hand. The Capt. Fred is an American lager and it goes great with the BBQ chicken tradition.

The Flanders Ned is a great suggestion and there are plenty of other great Flanders' sour beers. The style is typically lighter, yet full flavored and with a great, unique sour, as opposed to hoppy bitter, bite.

Our final guest for today is Joe Walts, ex-assistant brewer at JT Whitneys and now in the process of starting up a brewpub, RePublic, to be plopped smack into the middle of the boho East side. You can check out his blog, and follow his progress at http://republicbrewpub.blogspot.com - it's a great lesson in starting up a new small business, with problems that are not just unique to breweries.

Oh man, I'm a total pretender when it comes to beer and food pairings. I love that specific beers and foods can make each other taste better, but my senses operate on too crude of a level to really appreciate it. One concept which isn't lost on my tongue is that flavor intensities need to match. Since the impacts of most cookout foods tend to be in the same ballpark, it's pretty easy to pick a beer for the day and roll. If I had to choose just one to get me through the summer, it would be Burning River Pale Ale by Great Lakes Brewing Company. Its crisp hoppiness is refreshing on hot days, but the beer has enough flavor to handle the heartiness and caramelization of grilled food. Most importantly, though, is that Burning River has been involved with a lot of good memories. I drink it straight out of the bottle too, because I'm that much of a heathen. As for the food, I loves me a good brat but I don't have a problem acknowledging the superiority of hamburgers (I'm not a native Wisconsinite). This is my favorite way to build a burger:

-Season the beef with Lawry's, which also does good things for Boca burgers.
-Cook the meat medium-rare on a charcoal grill.
-Sautee white onions in butter and Worcestershire sauce until crispy.
-Butter the insides of the buns and brown them like grilled cheese sandwiches.
-Top the burger with swiss cheese, burnt onions and mayo.

If there's no kitchen nearby, raw onions and grill-charred buns are admirable substitutes. Mmm... BBQ.

Joe wins mad props for the Burning River; as a native Clevelander, I've consumed more of this beer than I'm capable of remembering.

But, what I also love about Joe's recommendations is the implicit acknowledgement and recognition that Bruce Springsteen related when asked about the meaning behind his lyrics. When asked whether he sat down to write these epic tales of working class life, The Boss replied that he was just writing what came, it wasn't until afterwards, and often not until someone else pointed it out, that he recognized the universal struggles evident.

Similarly, despite the romantic notions perpetuated by beer snobs, and so-called experts, and the brewing industry itself - perhaps taking a page from the wine industry hype-book - the brewers are just trying to get the best beer out that they know how to make. It's not until some genius sits down with 30 family members at a picnic table and tips back an ice-cold Spetznaz Stout in the seering August heat while devouring cold-smoked brisket and says "You know, I would have never guessed it, but the chocolate and coffee notes and the full body of this stout are perfect with this bbq" that the world knows of this genius pairing.

A Week of Grilling And Beer - Day 2

An unusual week to be sure. Not only are we focusing on a single topic, grilling and beer, but we're even publishing on Tuesdays!? Scandalaous, I know.

Today, we start with the experts.

In my meanderings about the fine city of Madison, I've come across a few retailers who really seem to know their beer. Not only Vanessa at Maduro, Matt and Josef at Brasserie V, and Adam at Star Liquor, but also Jan at the West-side Steve's Liquors and David at Barriques in Fitchburg (at PD and Seminole). I could talk beer all day with any of them. They know their stuff, are passionate, and quick with excellent recommendations. While Woodman's gets credit for quantity, each of these get mucho credit for quality - and, perhaps more surprisingly, for the most part their own preferences and tastes are reflected in their selections. You will find a number of beers at each of these locations that you won't find at the others. Of course, that means you have to make regular trips to each to see what's new ... but ... whoa be to anyone for whom this is truly a problem.

So, when posed the question, "What's your perfect chilling with the fam grilling and beer combination?" This is what a couple of them had to say.

Jan, from the West-side Steve's, says:

Garlic, olive oil and rosemary marinated pork tenderloin with Maredsous Triple. (Belgian) The slight sweetness of the Triple marries beautifully with the garlic and richness of the pork.

Sesame seared tuna steaks and Ommegang's Hennepin [ed note: Hennepin is a saison style]. Fast and fabulous!

Spicy, thai-style shrimp skewers and Bells' Sparkling or Furthermore's Fatty Boombalatty.

I love that recommendation for Bell's Sparkling, an underrated, interesting take on an American-ized and highly carbonated Belgian triple.

David, at Fitchburg Barriques, says:

#1 - Burgers on the grill - Capital Amber

#2 - Brats need a wheat beer - My current fav is Flying Dog In Heat Wheat

#3 - For a full weekend bbq with the guys...PBR! (it goes with everything)

And yes, PBR goes with everything.

By the way, thank you to the most excellent Elvis Santana for the fine photo.

A Week of Grilling And Beer - Day 1

Back on May 7, we had an article dissecting a poorly written article about the "Best Brews for BBQ ... wines, too!" It was an atrocious article that purported to question experts about the best beers to drink with your summer bbq. We complained at the time that not only were the "experts" very poorly informed, but their recommendations (a nut brown ale and a smoked porter) were downright bad. So, we promised that this week, the week before Memorial Day, we would run a series of articles that actually attempt to make some legitimate recommendations.

We have some great guests this week, so stay tuned!

For today, I wanted to get some of my own recommendations out of the way.

My favorite part of grilling is the sheer simplicity of it. Burgers, hotdogs, and steaks just taste better on a charcoal grill than out of an electric oven, or stove top. And it's not just that earthy, sweet, smoky flavor that the grill imparts; but, it's the experience. Slowing down the day and kibitzing with the family and neighbors while the grill heats up. Cracking open a cold, crisp beer and having a few laughs in the midst of fresh summer breezes bringing the aroma of fire and meat and vegetables.

Needless to say, a smoked porter is not particularly well suited for this task. For sipping while chilling try beers that are light and crisp, such as the New Glarus Edel Pils, the Ale Asylum Gold Digger, and the Lakefront Cream City Pale Ale. Of course, your intrepid journalographer, ummm ... me, prefers a bit of sweet caramel with that cold crispness, so I generally reach for the amber ales and lagers such as Ale Asylum's Ambergeddon, Leinie's Red, and Point Amber. At the end of the night, when I'm sitting by the bonfire, stick in hand and marmallow fingers, the beers of choice are nice and hoppy pale ales like Central Waters' Lac Du Bay IPA, Tyranena's Bitter Woman, and Capital's US Pale Ale.

So, there's just a few ideas. I know, it's no ode to impeccable genius of pairing grilled meats with the perfect beer. But, trust me, our experts that will be here the rest of the week have some awesome, awesome ideas.

Hey Barkeep! I’ve Got A Lot of Questions

Usually with "Hey Barkeep!" we try to answer one question in detail. This month we're going to take a few questions – some from real live folks, but some from the searches that end people on this site. As I'm sure you are aware, I have the ability to see how many people visit this site each day (for those interested, it's around 100 per day, plus another 100 from RSS feeds). About one-third to forty percent of those visits are from search engines. Did you know that I can also see what people searched for that resulted in them being at my site? It's great fun.

But first. Trust me we will do a much bigger piece on this closer to Memorial Day, but on Wednesday we were talking about beers for grilling and BBQs. So, what would I recommend for drinking with grilled chicken? On the first day that the ol' MBR grill got busted out for the year, we had grilled chicken marinated in tandoori and garam masala spices and a lemon artichoke salad (with some carrots and potatoes thrown in for good measure). Paired with this wonderful food, we had the De Proefbrouwerij Saison Imperiale, a Special Reserve Belgian Farmhouse Ale from the Brewmaster's Collection. It was purchased for $9.99 + tax (about $10.25 or so) at Steve's on the west side. Also under consideration for this meal was the Thiriez Blonde ($12.99 plus tax). The Imperial Saison (nomenclature aside) complimented the chicken well. While I would have preferred a bit more hops (maybe the Blonde would have been better), the pleasant fruity tartness cleaned the palate well and the additional body on a traditionally lighter-bodied beer didn't make me full. The musty, cherry and lemon aromas complimented the chicken's earthy spices and the salad's acidity. All-in-all, a good choice.

On to the searches; these are all real search terms that resulted in hits on this website in just this past week:

Q: "Steam beer is classified as which general beer style"
A: Back in January we talked about a taxonomy of beer. We talked about how the "family" of beer has two "genus" types – ales (top fermenting yeast) and lagers (bottom fermenting yeast). Steam beers use lager yeast, so they are technically, lagers. We then discussed how you can group the genus of ale or lager into two species: warm fermenting and cold fermenting. And in each genus you will have beers of each species. Most ales are warm fermented (temperatures above 55 degrees F), but porters are cold fermented ales. Similarly, most lagers are cold fermented (temperatures below 45 degrees F), but steam beers are warm fermented. So, to answer the question: steam beer is a warm-fermented lager.

Q: "Average amount of alcohol compunction"
A: Compunction: a feeling of deep regret. Despite my guess that the person meant "consumption" not "compunction" I would guess that the average amount of feeling of deep regret related to alcohol is fairly high and directly proportional to "consumption" on a rising logarithmic scale.

Q: "Drank too much and vomited"
A: Yeah. That'll happen. Probably a great amount compunction (see above).

Q: "Alcohol spending in Wisconsin"
A: For the most recent data I could find online (Fiscal Year 2002), the state of Wisconsin collected $9.6 million in excise taxes on beer. At $2 per barrel (although there are some breweries that only pay $1 per barrel), that's more than 4.8 million barrels (31 gallons) of beer. Given that Wisconsin only has 5.6 million people, 24% of whom are under 18, that's over a keg of beer per adult in 2002. To get a rough idea of the amount that we spend on beer, we can multiply the number of barrels sold by the going-rate for a keg (31 gallons, also called a "half-barrel", but one of these days we'll get into this weird naming system). Ranging from $45 (Natural Light) to $150 (Guinness), we can take a weighted average and call it, maybe $80? Would you agree that that's fair? So $80 a keg for 4.8 million kegs is $384 million or thereabouts. A third of a billion dollars on beer alone in the state of Wisconsin. Nice.

Q: "What is rauch ale"
A: Rauch beers are smoked beers. They can be either ales or lagers. In either case, the malts are smoked before use, traditionally over beech-wood, in some cases hickory or apple woods. For the smoking process, the malted barley is confined with smoking wood for a period of time (as little as a few hours, as much as a day or two) then used in an otherwise normal brewing process. I haven't heard of breweries "cheating" and using "liquid smoke", but I'm sure it happens.

Q: "Returnable beer bottle Indiana"
A: Don't know. Why don't you ask the Hoosier Beer Geeks?