Mmm, barley wines. Among the most food-friendly of beer styles, barley wines match up mellifluously with some of the world’s richest and most flavorful foodstuffs. From aged Stilton, duck rillettes, bittersweet chocolate, or even snack foods such as toasted glazed walnuts, I love the peppery nose hit from the higher alcohol found in intensely spirituous barley wines.

Barley Wine Glazed Walnuts

2 cups shelled walnut halves
1/2 cup barley wine
1/2 cup sweet cream butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
Pinch ground white pepper or cayenne
2 teaspoons sea salt, finely ground, or to taste
Soak walnuts in barley wine in shallow dish or zip-seal plastic bag at least 1 hour, stirring or turning several times. Place nuts and barley wine mixture in large, heavy saucepan or Dutch oven, and add butter, brown sugar, pinch of pepper, and finely ground sea salt as desired. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to coat evenly. (Don’t use plastic utensil as the syrup is hot.) Cook and stir until liquid has mostly evaporated and nuts are sticky and glazed. Pour glazed nuts onto nonstick baking sheet, and spread out to cool. When cool enough to handle, break clumps and place in serving bowl. They will be a bit sticky but delicious with a goblet of barley wine.

David from Musings Over a Pint tried the Barleywine Banana Split recipe from the Best of American Beer and Food in time for this month’s session. Here’s his take - with the addition of what sounds like a fantastic chocolate sauce!

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 influenced 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?

Here are a few tips from a recent interview with Jeff Bearer of Craft Beer Radio - and if you have 30 minutes, you can listen to the entire podcast here.

Start with a beer in good condition, one that you’d enjoy drinking solo. If you like the taste of it in a glass, chances are you’ll enjoy the flavors in the finished dish.

Treat craft beer with respect - if you boil it vigorously, the flavors will change as the beer reduces, growing more intensely bitter. Use very hoppy ales in marinades and vinaigrettes which are left uncooked, for the truest flavor to the original. Otherwise, add alternative sweeteners, such as barley malt extract.

Since beer is really a “liquid flavor” when cooking with it, consider using thickeners to convey the tastes. Chef Nathan Berg of Native Bay uses unflavored gelatin to make a savory jelly with craft ales - I tasted the Central Waters Elder Weiss made into a jelly presented with candied hickory nuts - it melted in the mouth with a delicate tang of hops and made the nuts taste all the sweeter.

Though I don’t think it’s necessary to cook every dish served in a beer dinner with beer as an ingredient, I do think it is a good example of a classic pairing technique called “bridging.” A bridge is a garnish or ingredient or other flavor elements that meld together from the food, to the drink, to the palate. You can use the flavors of beer as a bridge or you can use foodstuffs. For example, to bring out the nuttiness in a brown ale, you could present a pilaf topped with toasted pecans, or to highlight Chinook hops, you could garnish a salad with slivers of fresh grapefruit. It’s a simple but effective tool in creating pairings with harmonious flavors.