Aarti's Beer Party

I had a great time drinking beer and eating great beer snacks with my friend and fellow beer chick Aarti Sequeira, who happens to be the winner of Season 6 of The Next Food Network Star, and now she has her very own rad show called Aarti Party (She also has an awesome blog at aartipaarti.com).

I've received about a trillion emails asking everything from what glassware we used at the party, to how we came up with the beer pairings for Aarti's delicious and interesting dishes, to what beers to pick if the ones listed on her show aren't available in your area.

The first dish that Aarti made was called Chewda a crunchy Indian snack mix made with cornflakes, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, plantain chips, golden raisins and my favorite fried curry leaves. I thought that a crisp, dry and lighter bodied beer would be best here. A traditional Kolsch is perfect for its depth of flavor and its lightly sweet finish. I chose the Reissdorf Kolsch by Privat-Brauerei Heinrich Reissdorf, a brewery in Cologne, Germany.  Alternatives: Schlafly Kolsch from St. Louis, Missouri; Goose Island Brewing Co. Summertime Ale and Alaskan Summer Ale from Juneau, Alaska.

The next pairing was the Lebanese pita snacks called Arayes.  They are baked with a spicy beef and pine nut filling.  I chose the dry and nutty Deschutes Black Butte Porter from Bend, Oregon.  Don't let the look of this beer fool you.  It pours dark, but it's got a light and bright body, nutty and smoky flavors and a dry finish that works perfectly with this snack.  Also try this recipe with Anchor Brewing Company Porter from San Francisco, CA; Sierra Nevada Porter from Chico, CA and Bell's Brewery Porter from Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Finally, Aarti's Fish Tacos featured pan-seared mahi mahi with coriander and ancho chile powder, with warm corn tortillas, garlic-mint mayo, shredded cabbage, and pickled banana peppers. They were paired with Allagash White Ale) from Portland, Maine.  This beer is brewed with coriander and bitter orange peel that harmonized with the spices in the dish and also providing herbaceousness and citrus! Alternatives: Unibroue Blanche De Chambly from Chambly, Quebec; Alaskan Brewing Co. White Ale from Juneau, Alaska or Blue Moon Belgian White Ale from Coors.

Just like with wine, the right beer glass can make a huge difference in the flavor, aromatics and the mouthfeel of a beer.  Spiegelau makes the beautifully designed glassware that we used at the party.  Their Beer Classics line has a "Stemmed Pilsner Glass" that I use when I'm evaluating almost all beers.

Now I can cross "Get on the Food Network" off my bucket list!  Thank you to all who watched and wrote.  Beer is good!

FOR THE NEWLY HATCHED BEER CHICK

During a very interesting 3 hour discussion with one of my best friends today, the topic of beer came up. Imagine that. Kind of like that conversation you have with your friends about the first time you did it, we started discussing the first time we ever had a craft brew, and why we started drinking it in the first place.

The first microbrew my friend remembers drinking was Fat Tire from New Belgium. (This was several years ago!) He said that he started drinking it, not so much for the taste, but more for the fact that it made him seem different, like he wasn't just going along with what the commercials aimed at his demographic told him that he should be drinking. The first artisanal beer that I loved was Lost Coast Great White. I drank that one, because, at the time I hated bitter beers (My, how things change.)

We came up with a list of five American craft beers that we thought would make great starter beers for those of you who are new to the world of craft beer. These are baby steps into the world of great beer that you can safely take when you feel like differentiating yourself but not getting too extreme.


Lost Coast Great White, Eureka, CA:
I mentioned before that this was my first starter beer! This is a Belgian style white ale. It's a wheat beer that is fermented with lemongrass. I've talked about this beer before, because it's delicious, refreshing and will introduce your palate to new flavors in beer. Light and bright mouthfeel, this beer is the bees knees.
4.8% ABV.

Victory Prima Pils, Downingtown, PA:
This is an effing great beer. Light in color and body, crisp and dry. This beer has good hops, but has a good balance. Just the right amount of bitterness with some herbaceous notes. Its a totally drinkable, clean beer. You'll be starting on a high note with this one.
5.3% ABV.

Rogue Dead Guy Ale, Newport, OR:
This beer sounds scarier than it is. If you are looking for something that may be a little bit on the sweeter side, this is your starter beer. This is a delicious dopplebock style beer with hints of caramel and toffee. Still light-bodied enough to avoid being cloying, I've turned several women on to beer with this recommendation!
6.5% ABV

Deschutes Mirror Pond, Bend, OR: This beer is a nice, decent American Pale Ale. Its got a bit of grapefruit rind citrus on the nose that's balanced out by some woody, toasty dryness. This actually reminds me more of an ESB and finished with a touch of honey. It's a simple, well-balanced, easy to drink beer.
5.5% ABV.

Allagash White Portland, ME:
This is a complex beer - but the neophyte can get it too. Like the Great White, this beer is a Belgian style white ale or witbier brewed with wheat. But this one sticks to tradition brewing with coriander and curacao bitter orange peel. This beer is delicious and has a beginning, a distinct middle and a fabulous finish.
5.0% ABV.

Written by The Beer Chick, September 7, 2008

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