Beer at table

Yours For Good Fermentables.com was recently noticed by the mainstream media ... sort of.

The August issue of Baltimore Magazine has an article on page 252 entitled:"Hopped Up On Beer. Restaurant chefs get creative in the kitchen with craft brews."

Wine with dessert? Of course. Beer with dessert? What? ¶ Actually, as craft beers take the country by storm, the seemingly odd matchup works quite well. Gourmets are finding that exquisite boutique chocolates and rich, gooey desserts mate perfectly well with dark, malty porters and pale, crisp ales.

Let's move away from words such as 'boutique' or 'gourmet'; they come with effete connotations. Let's use 'local' or 'fresh' or 'unpasteurized', as the situation may fit, or maybe 'artisinal' or 'craft' although those terms have become somewhat overexposed. To her credit, Christina Stutz —the author— never once uses the phrase 'sudsy'.

As to the "odd matchup" of beer and chocolate, read here or here.

In the piece, there is a photo montage of an Organic Beer & Vegetarian Dinner at Great Sage Restaurant in Columbia, Maryland.

Ms. Stutz, however, fails to interview anyone from the restaurant or dinner about beer and food. And she identifies me —featured in 3 of the pics in which I am indeed talking about beer and food— as simply (or grandiosely) "Clipper City Brewing company presents...".

But later in the article, Stutz does interview the General Partner of Clipper City Brewing, Hugh Sisson.

She quotes Randy Mosher of the World Brewing Academy ("Beer and cheese totally kick wine's butt.") and talks with Julia Herz of the Brewers Association, Jim Koch of Boston Beer Company, and Steve Frazier and Chef Tip Carter of The Brewer's Art Restaurant/Brewery.

Joe Barbera, owner of Aida Bistro and Wine Bar in Columbia, Md., puts the beer-at-table thing in practical terms:

... he is selling just as much wine as before, but ... "We're trying to stay ahead of the game," says Barbera, "because it seems a lot of people are taking a real interest in and liking to craft beer."

YoursForGoodFermentables.com received another recent press mention.

Steve Frank (1/2 of the Brews Brothers) had this to say in the August/September issue of Mid-Atlantic Brewing News:

Tom Cizauskas [has been] on the road around Maryland, matching meals to malts.

I like that phrase. I'll be borrowing it ... with due accreditation, of course.