Schultz Schuyler - Beer, Food, and Flavor: a Guide to Tasting, Pairing, and the Culture of Craft Beer

Copyright 2012, 2015 by Schuyler Schultz

Foreword copyright 2012 by Peter Zien

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The Library of Congress cataloged the first edition as follows:

Schultz, Schuyler.

Beer, food, and flavor : a guide to tasting, pairing, and the culture of craft beer / by Schuyler Schultz ; foreword by Peter Zien.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-61608-679-4 (hardcover : alk. paper)

1. Beer. 2. Food and beer pairing. I. Title.

TP577.S385 2012

641.23dc23

2012018215

Cover design by Brian Peterson

Cover photos by Bryan N. Miller

Print ISBN: 978-1-63220-315-1

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63220-883-5

Printed in China

To my wife, Amy.

Sharing the pleasures of life together is my greatest source of inspiration.

To my dadyour support and encouragement made writing this book possible.

And to my momthank you for teaching me to cook.

CONTENTS

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

Beer has changed. Looking back, it is puzzling that American beer drinkers tolerated decades of mass-produced mediocrity, because when flavorful handcrafted alternatives finally appeared, consumer enthusiasm exploded. Now the craft beer phenomenon is a cultural meme, the subject of both well-justified praise and occasional ridicule. The new beer is often a sophisticated artisanal product worthy of consideration on the same level as other fine culinary delicacies, and sometimes the enthusiasm of devotees can be parodied to great comedic effect.

The craft beer movement now is in its adolescence, a period of rapid growth and increasing popularity while, at the same time, it grapples with its several emerging identities. Will it mature into a mainstream fixture in pubs and restaurants throughout the country or become merely an alternative status marker? Will stalwart flagship beers provide reliable benchmarks of quality, with certain styles codified and protected as part of our national cultural heritage, much like bourbon, or will the parade of novelty flavored and experimental one-offs continue to grow? Perhaps all of the above?

The future of craft beer in America will be decided largely by what consumers demand of it. A large part of craft beers rich culture is built upon the direct interaction between brewers and their fans who make up a diverse community unafraid to offer its opinions. Witness the explosion of Internet beer rating communities that have fueled a burgeoning trade in rare or hyped beers. Theres a lot of information to be shared, but recent years also have seen a growing acquisitiveness in beer culture. Even within craft beer we need educated critical palates to winnow the real gems from the ordinary and help recognize what makes certain beers truly great. Its a big culture now in which brewery tasting rooms continue to be places of generosity and social leveling, while trends and enthusiasms, often Internet-fueled, spiral out in every direction.

The purpose of this second edition of Beer, Food, and Flavor is to provide solid information for enjoying the variety and bounty of craft beer and fine food, while noting and appraising new developments in the rapidly evolving craft beer scene. Additions include profiles of influential new brewers, another multi-course beer dinner with beer pairings, and some commentary on changes in the community at large. I have retained the original brewery profiles from the first edition to mark that specific time in the history of craft beer; those breweries, for the most part, still thrive as industry leaders.

Craft beer stands at a significant crossroads. More and more localities enjoy their own breweries, bringing greater quality and availability to more people. At the same time, however, the craft beer scene has grown large enough to exhibit all the usual human foibles, such as bandwagon opportunism, ideological entrenchment, mere status seeking, and good old-fashioned snobbery. But Im not worried. Hospitality and good cheer are in the nature of beer, and a movement, at its core, devoted to making better beer, in more variety, with growing availabilitytown by town and neighborhood by neighborhoodis bound to thrive and grow. The central aim of this second edition, as with the first, is to provide the kind of information and perspective that can enhance the way we experienceand shareone of lifes pleasures.

Cheers!

FOREWORD

Theres a lot of pressure put upon the young to choose their path and identify an occupation well before theyre ready to make a good choice. And sometimes the chosen occupation can feel more like a prison sentence than a way to showcase ones talents or skill sets. I didnt find my way as a professional brewer until later in life, and I was fortunate to have understanding parents who allowed me the time to find out what suited me best. Completing my major in political science and deciding to enter law school seemed like a logical choice, though I had no idea where destiny would take me. But throughout it all my life-long interests in travel, food, and beer continued to give me the greatest feelings of happiness that I could attain. On the day that the Gulf War broke out in January of 1991, I made the decision to follow my dream of doing a job that I could actually love and gave up on any plan of becoming a practicing attorney. I went to work with my father as the president of a successful home repair finance company and took up homebrewing for the first time. I quickly realized that this hobby had the potential to change my life. Six years later, in 2002, I seized on the opportunity to purchase a commercial brewery with a respected name: the AleSmith Brewing Company in San Diego, California.

What attracted me to craft beer was the unflinching commitment to high quality that this community embodies. At a time when we, as a country, are reassessing the quality of our food and where it comes from, the craft beer segment is driving a similar renaissance of quality, growth, and acceptance among brewers and consumers. Its been ten years since I bought AleSmith, and craft beer continues to post double-digit annual growth numbers, eating away at the dominance of macrobrewers. And our choices have only increased.

A wonderful part of this awakening to quality and flavor is the ability to pair the exceptional food being prepared today with the diversity of craft beer now available. Once reserved only for wine drinkers, the simple pleasure of pairing well-made dishes with craft beer is beginning to make inroads into the larger culinary scene. It is quickly becoming evident that pairing food and beer is natural and fun, and that anyone can participate in and enjoy this enhanced dining experience. Roasted and caramelized aromas and flavors found in many dishes can also be found in many beer styles, thus creating a natural bridge between food and drink. But it doesnt stop there. For every unique cuisine theres a beer style that will accentuate its most positive aspects.