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www.cheersonline.com 31 January/February 2017 • PAIRING WINTER BREWS Apply general pairing principles to seasonal beers and food. For instance, match strength for strength by pairing strong Stilton cheese with high-alcohol barleywine. Contrast flavor elements by cooling spicy chicken with smooth, malty stout. Or complement profiles by balancing dark chocolate with barrel-aged beer. Party Fowl, a playful chicken restaurant and bar with 24 taps in Nashville, TN, enjoyed a recent success with pairings Owner Austin Smith gives his kitchen staff plenty of creative license, though they don't take on too much seasonal variability, he says. "Our chef, Bart Pickens, can do pretty much anything we can imagine," Smith says. "He recently made a Smoked Chicken Burgoo (thick chicken and bourbon stew), which pairs incredibly well with our Jackelope Snowman Stout," a Nashville brew. At Headquarters Beercade, Rivera keeps pairings straightforward and accessible. He starts with main courses: "For a turkey or roasted chicken, I like a Belgian Golden Strong or Biere De Garde," says Rivera. When it comes to desserts, "for tarts and fruit pies, a fruit beer to complement or a rich stout to contrast," Rivera says. Awaken palates with a new spin on familiar flavors such as cherry pie with chocolate stout. Beer can also be an ingredient in a seasonal dish. "When it's cold out, I love a good soup or stew," says Malone at Waller Creek. "We like to incorporate beer in our food when we can, so if we make a stew we'll throw in a good stout or brown ale while it's cooking." Pairing the dish with the same beer used as an ingredient is an easy win. CIDERS FOR WINTER From sweet to dry, cider beckons wine and beer drinkers alike, and provides an alternative for gluten-free seekers. And it works especially well with food and in cocktails. Among the rich and intense flavors of winter beer, cider cleanses fatigued palates. Not just a purveyor of beer, City Works earns visitors for its comprehensive drink list. "Ciders are very popular here all year-round in Minnesota, and we do sell a lot of it here at City Works," says Sondgeroth. He notes seasonal bumps: "There is a slight boost in sales during the autumn months, but at such a beer-centric place like ours, many wine drinkers may opt for one of our ciders." Another factor: "We carry a great selection that would be hard to find anywhere else," Sondgeroth adds. Just as the craft beer industry has seen a broadening range of flavors, so too is the world of cider undergoing dimensional growth in flavor possibilities. Rivera notes new flavors that come in and out of Headquarters Beercade. "From a cold- brew-coffee cider to pumpkin spice or Imperial cider, there's definitely something for everyone." At Arcana in Boulder, cider takes a striking presence with 22 on hand, most of them dry and complex, according to Burghardt. "There can be a misconception of cider being sweet and fruit-driven," he says, "when in all actuality, there's single-apple-variety ciders aged in oak barrels that are dry, funky, yeasty and as complex as Belgian and wild ales." Expect to see even more diversity in cider's future. And for a more modern approach to seasonal cocktails, consider using cider. The carbonation in cider will lighten the body of a mixed drink, and a dry selection will balance stronger flavors. Burghardt cites a popular seasonal drink called the Jack Ruby ($12). It's made with Laird's Apple Brandy, Dupont's 2014 Aigre Doux (a low-alcohol, barrel-aged cider vinegar made with honey and ice cider), which adds acid to the drink, Three Pins herbal liqueur from Leopold Bros. and freshly made beet syrup. Then it's topped with Argus Ciderkin, Burghardt says, "which is a yeasty and dry cider." The cocktail has sort of an apple theme between the apple brandy, cider vinegar and Ciderkin, he says. "It's complex and earthy." Erika Bolden is a freelance writer and Certified Beer Server. She is a frequent contributor to L.A. Weekly, West Coaster SoCal and All About Beer magazine. THE WONDERLAND OF WINTER BEER Waller Creek Pub House in Austin, TX, is big on barrel-aged stouts during the winter season. Arcana Restaurant in Boulder, CO, offers a seasonal drink called the Jack Ruby made with Laird's Apple Brandy, Dupont's 2014 Aigre Doux specialty cider vinegar, Three Pins herbal liqueur, beet syrup and Argus Ciderkin cider.