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MAY 2014
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with food than is wine. ere is less acidity and no tannins to
contend with in a pairing with beer," says Wildy. "A beer brewed
with fruit has a bit more acidity, but still tastes in balance with
the malts, and often adding more texture and mouthfeel."
As an example, Wildy cites Birrificio Italiano's Cassissona,
brewed with cassis syrup, but not hugely sweet on the palate.
"It's a balanced ale, and doesn't taste like black currant soda."
Cassissona pairs well with roasted duck breast and poultry, and
the fruit can even out the vinegary taste of balsamic-glazed
vegetables and salad.
Pachorek of the Cheeky Monk notes that many new specialty
hop cultivars also can amplify fruit flavors, such as papaya,
mango, pineapple and passion fruit, in addition to the traditional
range of citrus flavors associated with fresh hops. "Fruit ales add
more depth to many food pairings," says Pachorek.
He cites the Lindemans cassis brewed with black currant,
paired with penne pasta, mushrooms and asparagus tossed in
a bacon gorgonzola cream sauce. "e combination is magical."
Jake Karley is the director of beverages at the P.J.W. Restaurant
Group, owners of the Pour House and P.J. Whelihan's concepts
with locations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. "Our number-
one bestseller at both Pour House locations is the Unibroue
Éphémère Pomme apple ale," he notes.
e beer, priced at $5.50 for a 12-oz. tulip glass, "does
phenomenally well for us, year round," Karley says. "It's our
most accessible craft beer and an easy step up for drinkers of
domestic lagers." Plus, he points out that the apple ale is more
of a session beer, at about 5.5% ABV.
"We also do a great business with the Harpoon ales at
P.J.'s," says Karley. e bars will serve Harpoon's new blended
grapefruit juice-wheat ale shandy called UFO Big Squeeze when
it launches this spring. Blended beers are another emerging
trend; look for coverage in the July/August issue of Cheers.
Lucy Saunders is the author of Dinner In e Beer Garden
and e Best of American Beer and Food.
Left, Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy is a wheat beer brewed
with natural lemonade flavor. Directly above, Lakefront Brewery
collaborated with Leinenkugel on a Berliner Weisse beer, which
included a dash of cherry bitters for the fruit flavor.
32-35 fruit forward beers CH0514.indd 35 5/7/14 10:08 AM
