Here are a few short reviews of the cookbook as part of holiday gift guides - an entertaining riff by Joe Sixpack - as well as a recipe from the Best of American Beer & Food featured in the food section of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Read this analysis posted by Alan McLeod of a good beer blog, juxtaposing the cover design for The Best of American Beer & Food next to another tome on the same topic.
Here’s a thought-provoking story from New Scientist, about the contributions that humble beer fridges make to global warming. Hmmmm, there’s a cool spot in the basement under the stairs that might make a good location for a beer cellar. Has anyone converted a cellar space for storing beer?
McClatchy News Service Beer columnist Barry Shlacter offers a round-up of foods for holiday feasting. If you yearn for something more flavorful than a plain roasted turkey, try this recipe for a marinated and grilled bird made with holiday spices, hard cider and brown ale:
24 ounces brown ale (or more to cover)
24 ounces hard cider
1/2 cup kosher salt
1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
1 teaspoon whole allspice berries
3 fresh bay leaves
2 oranges, washed, quartered, seeded and sliced thin
1/2 cup canola oil
1 medium-sized turkey (10 to 12 pounds), giblets removed
Special equipment: large stockpot, food-grade 5-gallon bucket (available from home brew supply shops)
The night before, start the marinade. Blend ale and cider, salt, spices, oranges and oil in large stockpot and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and let cool. Wash and rinse outside and cavity of turkey. Place turkey in food-grade plastic bucket and pour marinade over it. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (Tip: You may have to remove a few shelves to get the bucket in the refrigerator — or put the bucket in a large cooler packed with ice instead). After several hours, turn the bird so it marinates evenly on all sides.
After 12 to 24 hours, remove bird from marinade, and pour marinade through sieve into 1-gallon stockpot. Bring marinade to a boil, skim off foam and reduce heat to simmer. Use ladle to measure out 3 cups of sterilized marinade. Prepare grill with drip pan and arrange coals or burners for indirect cooking. Disjoint the legs from the turkey (without cutting the skin) as this will let it cook more evenly. Place bird on grill over indirect heat at 300 degrees 2 to 4 hours, depending on size of bird. Allow about 15 minutes per pound. Be sure that drip pan is large enough to collect fat and juices. Baste often with cooked cider ale marinade, mixed with pan drippings, to keep it moist. Internal temperature should reach 165 degrees when thermometer is inserted into thickest part of thigh. Finish bird with 10 minutes direct grilling over hardwood chips to crisp skin and add smoky flavors.
Move turkey to a platter and cover with 2 layers foil. Let turkey rest 30 minutes before carving. Makes about 12 to 14 servings.
Meet me at the New Holland Brewing Co., 66 East 8th St., in Holland, MI, for a holiday book signing of The Best of American Beer & Food. Sample recipes from the book will be presented as specials for the evening in the pub, and you make an evening of it, strolling around Holland’s Parade of Lights street festival.
Beervangelist Fred Bueltmann was one of the contributors to the cookbook, too, with pairings from appetizers to desserts. Just to get you in the mood, here’s a photo of a classic beer and chocolate pairing, courtesy of Cocoliquot’s talented chocolatier, David Bacco. Yes, you can order these exquisite confections online, at cocoliquot.com
Take a look at this review of the Best of American Beer and Food - what pleases me most is the author’s decision to cook the recipes and post his feedback - actually tasting the food and pairings instead of conjecturing…
Join the Alexanders of Brickskeller fame, and myself, for a celebration of chocolate, both sweet and savory, and the flavors of craft beer. We’ll have a great menu, featuring the special Curry Ginger Carrot Soup recipe from Diane Alexander, sampled at the Great American Beer Festival!
We had a tremendous evening of RFD cuisine inspired by the cookbook, with special pairings selected from Dave’s cellar:Reception beer: Unibroue Quelque Chose 2002
Bittersweet Salad, with Carr Valley Cheese Co.’s Cocoa Cardona goat cheese, paired with Lost Abbey Red Barn Ale, a farmhouse style
Diane’s Ginger Curry Carrot Soup with Unibroue’s Ephemere Pomme
Cocoa-spice rubbed braised pork with Rogue Ales Hazelnut Brown and New Belgium La Folie
Chocolate Noir Cake with Bell’s Java Stout and New Glarus Brewing Co. Wisconsin Belgian Red Cherry Ale
and as a delectation at the end, we’ll have a toast with an import, JW Lees Vintage Harvest Ale….truly a wonderful spectrum of pairings. 
R.F.D. Washington
810 7th St. NW
Washington, DC 20001
info@lovethebeer.com
202.289.2030
November 10
Join me at Bierkraft, 119 5th Ave., in beautiful Brooklyn for a book signing and tasting! I’ll be there on Saturday, 11/10, from noon to 4 PM. Both Grilling with Beer and The Best of American Beer & Food will be available…
November 12
Thanks to Sam Calagione, Devin Arloski, and Martin Ryan of the new Dogfish Head Alehouse in Falls Church, VA, for hosting me during happy hour. Come on over, buy a pint and the book, and meet me in the bar on Monday to get your copy signed, 11/12, 5-8 PM.
Dogfish Head Alehouse
6363 Leesburg Pike
Seven Corners Shopping Center
Falls Church, VA 22044
(703) 534-3342
In the opening of Aaron Copeland’s “Appalachian Spring,” there’s a wonderful set of “call and response” chords that progress in intensity and are so refreshing, repeated in variations throughout the suite. The music was a score for a ballet by Martha Graham and I think of pairing beer and food as live performance, subtly infl
uenced by mood and environment. The right music will lift my mood and make me enjoy my environment - even when I’m stuck behind the desk. I listen to jazz and classical music when I write, and rock and roll when I cook. My bakeware is stored in the basement to make room for stereo speakers in the kitchen. Something about the clatter of pans and smoke from searing meats matches best with the English Beat or the Decemberists. But when I’m thinking about pairings, I think about flavor progressions that build in tonal intensity, the “call and response” of malt to caramel, of citrus to hops, of apple or banana yeast esters to warming spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg.
Music supports a creative response and so I often listen while I cook, write and taste. The right mix of music will add so much enjoyment to dining - or become an irritant, as in canned restaurant music that repeats over and over, becoming stale and flat to the ears. It’s one of the key elements to consider in rating a pub, tavern or restaurant - because music will make a mood. And mood influences flavor perceptions, so does good music = good taste = good beer?
