Beer and food, food and beer / Moose Drool Brown Ale

What beer goes with Twinkies?

If you’re ever uttered those words to yourself, congratulations. You are experiencing beer to the fullest.

A good food/beer pairing is extremely rewarding for beer cacahuates. Some may consider this an unusual practice. These people also think all beer tastes the same ("I hate that 'beer' taste!"). But you’re better than that. Since beer and food both come in all flavors and textures, there’s no reason why you couldn’t pair them. But before you find the perfect barleywine to go with your Jelly Bellies, let's start with the basics.

The idea here is either to provide balance, or complement the food. Light lagers and hefeweizens provide cool, fizzy relief from food that will destroy your palette (like super-hot dishes). Your hoppier pale ales tend to work for fried foods, as the bitterness cuts through the greasiness of the food. Big, black beers are awesome with ribs, steaks and other savory red meats.

Olde School Barleywine - Beer with an identity crisis

There are an estimated gabillion beer styles on this planet.

Part of the fun of being a true beer fan involves the desire to try every style that’s out there, even if it means having to take a few risks. At best, you discover a new province in the world of beers. At worst, you suffer through the dreaded ordeal of the sink-pour (bad form, Smee…bad form).

For this week’s Exceptional Brew, I’m stepping outside of my comfort zone – I decided to try a style of beer that is completely alien to me, and one that many beer freaks might not be too familiar with: the barleywine.

Barleywine? Even the name “barleywine” is troublesome. So, is it wine? If it’s wine, did someone add barley to it? Or is barley used in place of fruit? The combination of wine and barley sounds disgusting.

I can assure you this: my pick for this week, Olde School Barleywine from Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, DE, is NOT disgusting.

But it is the most puzzling brew I’ve ever had, and even as of this writing, I’m not completely sure of how to rank it.