… well, as much as anyway

So tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. Hopefully you have something romantic planned with your sweetheart (or, if you don’t have one currently are planning on treating yourself anyway). What ever it is you have cooked up, allow me to suggest that there is a beer to go with it.

Sure wine hogs the spotlight on February 14 – and I guess that reputation is well earned. However, beer is nothing if not versatile, and I think there is reason to argue that beer is just as well-suited to go with that candlelight dinner, that box of gourmet chocolates or that fireside cuddle.

I tackled this question in two different places last week. First, in Planet S I use Valentines Day to introduce your non-beer drinking sweetie to the joys of beer, giving you something else you can share (you can read it here). The selections of beer I recommend are, like all of my Saskatchewan scribblings, restricted by what is available at the SLGA. This particular column is also marred by the editor’s addition of sound affects and a few Austin Powers-esque commentaries that are not normally in my literary repertoire.  It is an editor’s right to make last minute changes, so I am not complaining; just highlighting that some of the inclusions don’t fit my style very well.

Then last Friday on CBC’s RadioActive, I tackled the day of hearts with a slightly different approach (they are still not posting my spots, so I can’t link it for you). I offered beer to fit every Valentine’s occasion. Here is a quick summary (as I have gotten inquiries since the column aired). I start by suggesting beer replacements for wine, and then shift to events and other pairings. The beer I chose include:

• To replace white wine, Unibroue Ephemere Apple – with its soft body and gentle fruitiness. For rose, the Ephemere Black Currant might work.
• Duchess du Bourgogne or Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus to replace red wine. I think the fruit and tart combination – especially in the Duchess – are reminiscent of wine.
• For replacing the old standby chocolate, I suggested a series of chocolate-infused beer: Phillips Longboat Porter, Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, Holgate Temptress Chocolate Porter (which gets a bonus point for its name), and Dieu du Ciel’s Aphrodisiaque (which gets a couple bonus points for being in French, the language of love).
• I ended the evening by the fire, suggesting a barley wine for lazing by the fireplace. Obviously many worked, but I picked the increasingly rare (and no longer brewed) Thomas Hardy’s Ale both for its poetic romantic notions and that its rarity increases the specialness of the moment.

So there you have it. Ideas for how to combine the person we love with the beverage we love. Have a happy Valentine’s Day.