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We usually associate it with moments of relaxation and informal settings, but beer can be and, in fact, is a drink for very demanding gourmets. Its complex flavor, the infinity of elaboration styles, the universe of nuances that it can have make it an option capable of competing with wine with the same, powerful, weapons. Tips, news, notions and directions to enjoy beer until the last bubble.
The “invention” of hops
Beer is probably the oldest alcoholic beverage of mankind. Its ingredients main ingredients – cereals, water and yeast – are the same as bread. Hence, this universal drink is often nicknamed “liquid bread” or that it is also referred to as food. Hops is a climbing plant native to Japan whose female flowers are responsible for the characteristic aroma and bitter touch of the beer. This ingredient only became part of the recipe from the Middle Ages.
And it is that talking about beer is talking about history, about how the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia already dominated about twenty different styles of beers and the highest classes drank beer using golden straws. They were also entitled to more generous daily quotas of this drink. For this reason, they used it in rituals and they used it as currency to pay their servants. Beer was worth like gold.
Golden and limited edition
Too early to have an eye on Christmas? It depends. Born as a pure and hard packaging experiment on the occasion of the Victoria Beer Week (taking place in March 2018), this beer could become the object of desire for any self-respecting fan. Covered in gold, beer bottles take their place in a “Box of six” reinvented by the Canadian design studio Toolbox for local beer brand Granville Island Brewing. The box deconstructs the beer recipe and rewrites it in the most glamorous and brilliant way.
Beer, trendy drink
Beer is rich in mineral salts, vitamins –especially B1, B2, B6 and folic acid–, fibers, micronutrients and carbohydrates. What’s more, does not contain many caloriesIt contains little fat and, what we like to hear the most, has some antioxidant power, that is, it helps fight aging and reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. If we then add that it is a drink very refreshing and versatile –The varieties of beer we can choose from are practically endless– we already have all the elements to understand why beer is the new wine. Of course, as an alcoholic drink that it is, you have to consume it very sparingly.
Two beer-based delicatessen
Artisan, exclusive, limited edition. The beers of the Toledo house Domus celebrate ten years of history and they do so by also launching themselves on the market with some delicatessen made from the blonde drink. The jam, a reduction of beer, sugar and natural apple pectin, is designed to accompany cheeses, meats, sausages or foie. The Beer Cream It is a liquor that mixes beer distillate and dulce de leche cream, with a smooth texture and 15% alcohol. A novelty.
Red as blood, sweet as cherries
You don’t know everything about beer until you’ve tried one Kriek (sour beer in Flemish). A first criterion for distinguishing beers is that which refers to the process of fermentation. There are high fermentation (such as Ale), low (Lager), mixed and the first, the oldest and “unpredictable”, that is, the spontaneous. The Lambic Belgian is, according to some, the missing link between beer and wine. It is produced exclusively in Brussels and in the bordering region of the Senne Valley, because this is where the yeasts that make these beers something unique proliferate. Kriek is obtained by adding tart cherries to maturing Lambic. The high acidity “corrodes” the fruit, donating color and sweetness to the mix. According to legend, it was the Flemish Crusaders who invented this beer, missing their exploits in the Holy Land, where they had learned to drink wine. Red like the blood of Christ.
Chateau Jihau: an archaeological beer
It is the beer for those who pursue the exclusive in everything they do. The recipe, made from orange blossom honey, muscat grape juice, malted barley and hawthorn, emphasizes that of the first beer that we have news of. A fermented drink of rice, honey and hawthorn, traces of which were found on ceramic vessels at the Neolithic archaeological site of Jihau, in China’s Henan province. To perfect this rarity, the American Brewery Dogfish Head he has enlisted the help of a molecular archaeologist from the University of Pennsylvania. Nothing more, nothing less.
Gourmand proof beer
Belgium is an amazing country. For its cuisine, for its chocolates and, of course, for its beers. If we want to get a luxury experience, the Belgian restaurant Gourmand, located in Madrid’s Chamberí neighborhood, is the ideal place. Here we can find an astonishing variety of beers –draft, bottled, abbey, spontaneously fermented and even sweet– and also try specialties such as mussels with fried potatoes with kriek beer or the Tortilla with beer.
Two tasting menus are served in the gastronomic restaurant located on the upper floor (the lower floor is a Brasserie). they can be paired with both wine and beer. A unique opportunity to enter a very little-known kitchen, hand in hand with one of its treasures.
A laps with the Homebrewing
It is never as exclusive as when we do it at home. Beera young company that is dedicated, among other things related to the world of beer, to commercialize kits to brew our own beer at home. Each kit, which costs between 50 and 60 euros, contains everything you need – from yeast to hops, passing through the fermentor bucket – to make 5 liters of craft beer according to different recipes. Among them, Red Ale Kadabra, Albero Gastro Pale Ale, Tyris Blonde Ale, Weissbier and Ecológica. All the kits are reusable, as there is the possibility of purchasing the raw material “refills” separately. They can be purchased in specialized stores and through their website.
“Chula” and without alcohol
Any non-alcoholic beer fan can claim that, in recent years, opting for that drink is no longer a huge sacrifice. This non-alcoholic beer is the result of two years of work and no less than 112 tests. Water, malt, yeast, Spanish hops to give it bitterness and American to give it aroma, are the ingredients chosen by Jacob Nieto, brewmaster and owner of Villa de Madrid beers, to create this beer. The first non-alcoholic artisan of Spanish origin.
Tips to enjoy until the last bubble
En crystal glass cold but not frozen and at a temperature between 5º (if it is a blonde) and 10º C (if it is a beer with more body). This is how you taste a beer. An ideal companion to the most varied dishes, beer displays all its charms on the table in the presence of cheeses with a fatter texture, eggs, smoked fish, highly spicy dishes or authentic nightmares of the Pairing like vegetables with a bitter touch – such as asparagus, arugula or endive – and artichokes.
Chocolate is the ultimate proof of the beer’s versatility, as long as it is a Stout (dark beer) with its natural notes of coffee and chocolate. A off-road drink capable of conquering with all its infinite nuances.