Beer is the new wine

NBC's Today morning news/entertainment program ran a short piece this morning on "beer is the new wine." Much to the initial bemusement of Ann Curry and two other Today Show hosts, an editor of Food and Wine Magazine talked about pairing beer with food.

More restaurants appear to be featuring better beers on their beer lists than occurred even 5 years ago, he said. And some restaurants are even training their waiters or 'beer sommeliers' to offer diners pairing suggestions.

As an example, he noted that the piney edge of hoppy beers tends to cut through the fat of fried foods. And, he said, pilsners and crisp lagers pair well with spicy foods, specifically mentioning Thai shrimp curry.

But it wasn't until he poured from the copper-kettle shaped container of Samuel Adams Utopias ($100 bottle of beer, 25% abv) that he seemed to score some points. At this point, the Today hosts began to take several sips! Ann Curry agreed that the beer would be delicious with chocolate. It doesn't exactly taste like beer, she opined.

An earlier segment was a demonstration on how to cook beer can chicken.

[UPDATE 21008.03.19: Another take on the phrase "beer is the new wine."]