Spring, Chili Beers, and the Grill

 I decided to take a little time away from writing the last month or so. First, I was in a funk from my Broncos getting absolutely annihilated in the Super Bowl. That coupled with the never ending winter here in Ohio left me a little bare on the inspiration front. I am now refreshed, over THAT game, and looking forward to posting a bunch more now that spring is more or less here. That means for me, more grilling time, and it’s time to get the garden up and running. I am not as enthralled with the beers of summer as some folks are, and they are just starting to slowly be released so we’ll save that for a post in the next month or so, but I have been paying some attention to the pulse of the beer world, and I have been playing around with food in my away time which should't shock anyone at all.So let's dive in.

Right now, there are some trends with beer that have been taking shape over the last year (or a little longer) that seem to have gained popularity among brewers and those of us who drink beers are taking a liking to. Much like a few years ago when the rage “trend” was the bourbon barrel aged blah-blah fill in the blank beer style; we now have a couple right now that I tend to prefer over that. After all beer was originally barrel aged, not necessarily in a craft whiskey cask or a wine barrel but you get the picture. It still is fairly popular and I do enjoy some, but I think that it’s almost a solely marketing tool and it’s been played out to the fullest. Christ, Miller has a bourbon flavored beer.  The trend that I am most interested in, that has got legs currently is the addition of chilies to beer. Sure it’s been around, we have all seen that shit lager with the chili pepper in it, but we are talking about something that has had a little more thought put into it. Contrary to what some may think I like this one. For the record I am not a don’t-put-things- in-my-beer-jerk-ass. The jerk-asses mentioned often pledge their allegiance to The Reinheitsgebot it is the German beer purity law (which has changed a little over time). Look it up for the full details on it but it basically has only a handful of ingredients that are allowed by law to make beer: water, hops, malted barley. You get the picture. I get some of the sentiment for this, putting corn or rice as the main grain on the bill to cheapen it, but other things can be done to beer that can be experimental and interesting. So up hold the “law” and miss out. Your ignorance and unwillingness to try new stuff means more for the rest of the sane people on the planet. Rant is over, let’s continue.

It seems that Ancho Chilies are the popular choice as far as what chilies are being used, which makes sense. They are ripened and dried poblano chilies that have a smoky, spicy, fruity flavor. They hit 3 distinct flavor notes which add 3 elements to a beer. I am assuming this is why it’s a great addition to a beer. 3 distinctive notes as opposed to one. This brings me to the next part, as a chef what can I do with this? What can I pair it up with? There are quite a few ways to go beyond the obvious Latin cuisines that the chili is used in. That brings us to the grill. These go great with grilled meats and poultry, I wouldn’t go the seafood route as they may be a little heavy for that; unless you want to experiment with some in a ceviche, or you could use it with a heavy oily fish like salmon or mackerel but I don’t think they are the best flavor combos for that but it could be worth a try. I am going to go out on a limb and say that pork would be the best vehicle to use one of these beers for part of a marinade. The other thing to look at will be what the original beer style is, Ommegang’s Fire and Blood is a Belgian style so it’s going to have different flavors than say the Rogue Farms Chipotle which is an amber with Chipotle. Most will work but weird things happen. As I said earlier my gears get turning when I see or try a beer about pairings and cooking, so I will be experimenting in the coming weeks with this and I will post any and all victories or failures on my Facebook page along with a recipe when we get one that is good. There will be a bunch more content upcoming including some  things I have wanted to try, and have been working on for a while that just aren't quite ready, and as always I'll be trying and seeking out beers and letting you know my feelings.  Also I will be doing something that I have wanted to test out for a while and that is a series of beer can chicken experiments, that will be this summer and it should be pretty cool if you like to grill and experiment, we'll do them together and at worst have chicken and beers!