OnTap Magazine

24 | Spring 2025 | ontapmag.co.za refreshment, but beers paired with food are an integral part of the dish and the temperature should complement that of the ingredients to enhance the overall dining experience. A campanelle pasta dish with duck ragu sprinkled with duck fat pangrattato came next. Leftover focaccia is dehydrated, blitzed into crumbs, and cooked in seasoned duck fat to create a duck crouton crumb. The dish was paired with Samuel Adams Boston Lager for its malt sweetness and spicy hop bitterness to offset the richness of the duck and balance the strong, meaty flavours of the dish. The fourth course demonstrated how seamlessly the two paired beers complemented the dish, so much so that they could have been part of the recipe. Featuring a rare breed pork chop, a fresh cherry sauce finished with mustard oil, roasted potatoes with roasted charcuterie and a flourish farm salad, the two accompanying beers were natural partners. Served a few degrees above chilled, Toppling Goliath’s King Sue double IPA was bursting with juicy tropical hop notes layered with a cream popsicle orange citrus note underpinned with a gentle vanilla to soften the bitterness and round out the flavours. Equally harmonious was Coldfire’s Cerise Rouge 2024, a foeder fermented sour blonde base ale aged in white wine barrels then refermented on Montmorency cherries in a meticulous process that takes three years, served at cellar temperature. Both beers were natural extensions to the dish, the only difference being they were in a glass not on the plate! And so, to a decadent dessert of chilled profiteroles paired with a room temperature imperial oatmeal vanilla porter from Virginia Beer Co, Pinwheel Porter, showcasing flavours of chocolate and vanilla and brewed with flaked oats to give a creamy mouthfeel with traditional carbonation. The harmony between the cold chocolate and vanilla cream profiteroles and the beer’s matching flavour profile was striking, and made all the more expressive and nuanced by the beer’s warmer serving temperature. The event clearly demonstrated that American craft beer has limitless food pairing potential not only with flavour synergies but also through thoughtful temperature contrasts. Allowing the beer to warm slightly enhanced the flavours of both beer and food. The style-diversity and world-class quality of American craft beer make it ideal as a food accompaniment. South African brewers are welcome to make use of the wealth of resources published by the Brewers Association to understand and enjoy craft beer, downloadable free of charge from www.brewersassociation.org or www.craftbeer.com ABOUTTHE BREWERS ASSOCIATION The Brewers Association (BA) is the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American brewers, their beers and the community of brewing enthusiasts. The BA represents 5,600-plus U.S. breweries. The BA’s independent craft brewer seal is a widely adopted symbol that differentiates beers by small and independent craft brewers. The BA organizes events including theWorld Beer Cup®, Great American Beer Festival®, Craft Brewers Conference®& BrewExpo America®, Homebrew ConTM, National Homebrew Competition and American Craft Beer Week®. The BA publishes The New Brewer® magazine, and Brewers Publications® is the leading publisher of brewing literature in the U.S. Beer lovers are invited to learn more about the dynamic world of craft beer at CraftBeer.com® and about homebrewing via the BA’s American Homebrewers Association® and the free Brew Guru®mobile app. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Issuedonbehalf of theBrewersAssociation, 1327SpruceStreet, Boulder, Colorado, 80302 USA. www.brewersassociation.org For further press information: Lotte Peplow at lotte@brewersassociation.org +44 (0)7973 698 414 Welcome beer Sierra Nevada Brewing Co – Hazy Little Thing IPA Wild farmed focaccia House-made ricotta, fennel pollen, Manteca salumi selection The Bold Mariner Brewing Co - 1944 Golden Pale Lager Line-caught sea bass crudo, cucumber, rosemary, grilled nectarine salad, shiso, hazelnuts, chilli Hinterland Brewery – Jamaican Haze IPA Campanelle, duck ragu, duck fat pangrattato Boston Beer Co – Samuel Adams Boston Lager Pork chop, cherry mostarde, salumi roast potatoes, flourish farm salad Toppling Goliath Brewing Co – King Sue Imperial IPA and Coldfire Brewing Cerise Rouge 2024 Profiteroles, chocolate sauce The Virginia Beer Co – Pinwheel Oatmeal Vanilla Porter THEMENU