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Make It Better With Beer

Sure, it’s trendy, but the fact is pairing good Midwestern craft brews with food makes eating almost as enjoyable as drinking beer.
by Eddie Glick

I like my beer like my women: pale, strong, full-bodied, and extremely bitter.
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I’ve never been what you’d call a “foodie.” Food has never been much more to me than basic sustenance you cram into your hole to keep from passing out and eventually dying. So I have to say I was a little perplexed at first when this trend of pairing craft beer and food came to prominence. To be honest, I couldn’t see any reason to drink my beer while eating food. I just didn’t see the point. What could be more fascinating than a well crafted pint of beer?

Introducing the Beer Dorks Midwest Beer And Food Pairing Guide

And I still feel that way. But I’ve come to understand what all the hubbub is about when it comes to food and beer. See, I was looking at things all backwards. It’s not really about what the food and beer do together. It’s about what the beer does to the food. A truly great craft beer like, say, Three Floyds Dreadnaught, simply can’t get any better than it is, whether you pair it with food or drink it while watching the world’s greatest porn (if such a thing were to exist). It just isn’t possible. But it’s the food that will benefit from a good pairing. Drink Dreadnaught with, say, some super dark, bitter chocolate, and you will suddenly understand what all the fuss is about. Eating is no longer solely a labor of self-preservation. With the right beer, food is almost as enjoyable as, well, beer.

But which beers should you drink with your food? A bad pairing could, at best, overpower your food and, at worst, ruin your beer. No one, especially us here at BeerDorks.com, wants that to happen. That’s why we put together our Midwest Beer And Food Pairing Guide. Use it to look up what food you’re eating or planning to eat—whether as simple as brats on the grill or as complex as a 12-hour cassoulet—and we’ll tell you what great Midwest craft brew will make it really worth eating.

But let me point out that we aren’t positioning ourselves as experts on beer and food pairings. In fact, most of the pairings we’ve put together we gathered from the real connoisseurs from a variety of sources: Garret Oliver’s incredible book, The Brewmaster’s Table, Lucy Saunders’ BeerCook.com, Beer Advocate, the Brewers Association, and several others. They are the experts on beer and food pairings. We’re the experts on Midwest beers.

One thing to remember when pairing, though, is that individual tastes differ. Don’t let us or anyone tell you what you’re tasting. If you absolutely love scrambled eggs with Breakfast Stout, don’t let anyone, especially us, tell you different. This guide is meant to be used as starting point from where you can experiment and create your own unique beer and food pairings that appeal specifically to you.

So explore and enjoy. Let us know of any pairings you particularly like, and make sure to check back frequently, because we’ll be constantly updating the guide with new dishes, new pairings, and more Midwest craft beers. And, who knows, maybe we’ll get around to building an XML feed and even a widget you can slap on your own blog.