They’ve got balls, I’ll give ‘em that.
Anheuser-Busch is hosting a series of beer dinners at fine restaurants. According to this article from the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch:
On a muggy night last September, Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Clayton brought out the fine white tablecloths for a $100 Anheuser-Busch beer dinner for 60 registered guests. Menus laid out seven courses of haute cuisine: coconut shrimp and Michelob, beef tenderloin and caramelized onions with Michelob Amber Bock, and Caesar salad with Budweiser in pilsner glasses.
Now I appreciate that A-B is trying to get people reacquainted with beer as a dining companion, but it seems that getting Budweiser with your salad is precisely the thing that would drive people to choose wine.
Even if it does come in a fancy-schmancy pilsner glass.
Maybe AB has a hernia.
You should have seen the pics of my balls when I had one. They were the size of grapefruits.
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Wait a minute. If say High Falls did this, or Rorbach did something like this you would eat it up. However because Big and Evil A&B is doing it, you and others have an issue? Come on. I’d rather soo you post something like “no matter what big beer ever does I will crap on it”, that way I won’t waste my time reading these. especially assinine comments like the one from “PAT”.
That’s because they’re charging $100 a plate. You don’t go into a fine restaurant, drop a C-note, and have Night Train with your meal. Why would you do the equivalent with beer?
nasty. the point of pairing is to match drinks that bring out flavors in the food and use meals that bring out flavors in the drink…
its like going to a wine paring where they match the food with boxed wine…
Seeing as the meal was at Ruth’s Chris, your dinner (beer or not) is going to be running at a decent clip anyway. The fact that a manor brewery is holding court is what you pay for also. Its no different that paying a zillion dollars for any one of a number of “sports dinners”. Besides, like I said if it was any other small craft brewery and they were throwing out their beer with a big fat steak you would gie it your applause. Not big beer though. I’m just throwing the other side out there.
KROC, it’s cool to order whatever you like with your steak, but the insipid watered-down taste of “big beer” is the whole reason craft beers exist in the first place. People wanted something better. Since the category is growing at 11% annually, I think the palates of the nation are voting on Bud with food. -Mark
Kira, Joe changed his mind on the ticket thing, but it was too late to remove that from the print edition. I simply copied and pasted it into the blog. I’ll make the change.
i dont think the reason that small craft brewing is being supported so much is because its small but rather because of the care and high quality of ingredients that are going into the brews. So that, combined with a good knowledge of brewing, makes a higher quality beer…the type of beer that SHOULD be paired with high quality food.
Admin, I understand what you are saying, however there are TONS of beer drinkers such as myself that would prefer the taste of a light watered down brew from big beer? Why not give us the chance to pair the beer ‘we’ like with food? Why does such a thing have to be only for craft beer?
KROC, when’s the last time you went to a cola and food pairing? Or an artisan water and food pairing?
The point is to demonstrate that traditional styles of beer, and modern American craft beer styles, have flavors that match perfectly with certain foods. And different beers match with different foods. A dark, heavy porter with its tangible roasted character, caramel notes, and hint of coffee might go well with pot roast or grilled steak, whereas its flavors wouldn’t fit with crab or alfredo pasta.
Likewise, the same brewery might produce a Hefeweizen that goes great with crab, but would get overwhelmed by the robust flavor of a big meat dish.
These dinners teach people how to choose food and beer that best match in flavor. Big American Lager all tastes alike, and has all the flavor engineered out of it. What difference does it make which pairings you assemble when even the brewers of Michelob and Budweiser can’t tell the difference in a blind taste test?
-Mark (Admin)
Come on, you’re better than resorting to generalizing. Yes, I have never been to a beer/food tasting…well because it’s not my thing for the most part. It’s not like I see Budweiser holding a tasting at say the Roadhouse here in lovely Crapchester or else I might be inclined to give it a shot. Besides, while you want to think all American Lagers taste alike, I would disagree. I can tell the difference between Coors, Bud, Michelob etc. because that is my personal beer taste. I don’t like all that German stuff you rave about, so it’s quite possible for my palate and the palate’s of a lot of others who have had their taste buds ruined by Big Beer, that something like this would work for the beer we like as well. Come on, it’s cool you rep the craft beer scene, but represent all beer on a fair and equal level. You’re turning into the Fox News of Beer.
I will bet you $50 that you couldn’t tell the difference between Michelob, Bud, and Coors in a taste test. Actually, that would make for a pretty good post or column. “Loud Mouth Ass Shows His Tastelessness.”
Anyway, this is a craft beer-centered column. I don’t shit on Big American Beer as much as many beer bloggers, but that doesn’t mean I have to play arbitrator between the two categories. Of course, if you’re trying to find a blog on American Macro beer, you might be looking for a while…
Jeez, do wine writers get this because no one wants a jug of Thunderbird with a fine dinner?
Thunderbird? Don’t embarrass yourself. It’s all about the MD 20/20!