Boulevard Brewing Co.’s Rye Beer
is served with braised piedmontese
short ribs with caraway black pepper,
horseradish potatoes and buttered root
vegetables, prepared by Colby Garrelts,
chef/owner of Bluestem, Kansas City, Mo.
produce as he can. “When you buy more
from the local farmers, they grow more. I
don’t even ask what it costs. If it’s a good
product and I can get it local, I think that’s
the way it should be. The quality is so
much better.”
Others, like Steven Pauwels, brewmaster at
Boulevard Brewing Co., Kansas City, Mo.,
grew up pairing food with beer. “I am from
Belgium, where beer is part of the culture.
It’s common to go into a restaurant and order
beer instead of wine. They’ve been doing it
for centuries there.
“It’s kind of new here, but craft beer is
becoming more popular in the U.S. Craft
brewers are pushing the envelope in terms
of creating flavors. Chefs and people in the
food industry are picking up on that and are
trying to work together.”
HOW THEY MATCH UP
Eric Skokan, chef/farmer/owner of Black
Cat Farm Table Bistro in Boulder, Colo.,
says he and his staff have fun in the kitchen
pulling out the subtleties in each brew to
highlight in dishes.
meat paired with a light beer and vice versa,
according to the sauce used. Thick, rich
sauce versus light salsa is a good way to
think of it and how you can make a dish pair
well with a beer.”
to contrast something or balance it. Or, if
something is fatty, you may want to cut
that. A hoppy beer would cut the fat like the
tannins in wine would.”
“Each craft beer tastes unique in and of
itself. We may pair a lemon flavor with a
yeasty and cheesy Hefeweizen. For example,
in the summer when it’s hot, we do squash
blossoms stuffed with lemon ricotta, and
serve it with a Hefeweizen. It’s important to
make sure the weight of the food pairs with
the heft of the brew itself.”
Marcus says he tries to incorporate the beer
into the dish and not just serve the beer with
it at Powerhouse Restaurant & Brewery. He
adds that the Pacific Northwest is a region
where seafood is readily available, and it
matches up well with Hefeweizen because
of its lightness.
Pauwels says when he works with a chef
on beer pairings, he looks for the main
flavors of the food. “Flavor could be a sauce
or dressing on a salad or the earthiness in
mushrooms. It could be anything, as long as
the flavor really comes out and links with the
beer while the food is eaten.”
Skokan adds that sauce is a key factor in
pairing a dish with a craft brew. “It’s always
about the sauce. It’s possible to do a heavy
For Hardesty, pairing local food with craft
beer is similar to pairing food with wine.
“You need to decide whether you are going
Boulevard Brewing Co. introduced the
Smokestack Series of beers about five
years ago as a food-friendly lineup of brews
that are bold in flavor. “We put them in
