Everyone loves a good brunch. A social meal that doesn’t make you get up too early. Hearty, satisfying food. The only thing about brunches that I find a bit dull is the choice of beverage. Champagne and orange juice. Uh, okay. Seems those pancakes and latkes and scrambled eggs could use a pairing out of the expected.
Vue Weekly ran a themed-issue this week, looking at all things brunch-y. They asked me to contribute a piece on beer and brunch. Given that this is something almost nobody does, it might seem like a hard project. On the contrary, I found it came together really quickly because it was essentially a blank canvas. I thought about common brunch foods, considered their flavour profile and what beer might go best with it and voila!
To be honest, I think I kept it straightforward, possibly too much. The beer pairing choices were sound but not particularly inspired, except maybe for the fruit syrup-lambic suggestion. I did that intentionally. The notion of beer and brunch is alien to most (I have already had one friend tell me that they read the article and remain unconvinced). I knew I couldn’t be too out there.
So you can find the article here. Give it a read and consider offering your own suggestions of good brunch-beer pairings.
February 21, 2011 at 1:49 PM
No suggestions as such. But I can definitely see beer being a much better pairing with brunch! I think I mentioned elsewhere that it was a video review of the Mikkeller ‘…Brunch Weasel’ that gave me that final persuasive nudge to try it. The review was posted by I believe a Georgia(stateside)resident who has a site called http://www.bikebeerbbq.com & he was reviewing the beer with a post-bike ride brunch. And I recently picked up another beer that should be nice with brunch-I’m thinking chorizo sausage, possibly in a frittata, that being Dogfish Head’s Palo Santo Marron which is aged in Paraguayan Palo Santo wood .
February 25, 2011 at 8:24 PM
The last time I was at Barb & Ernie’s I ordered a Konig Ludwig Weiss beer with my omlette. Best brunch decision ever.
February 26, 2011 at 5:05 PM
Mmmm. Perfect Choice. Good call, Chad.
Jason