Top Chef Tackles Beer

I guess you could call me a bit of a foodie. My friends that have known me for some time have known that I’ve liked to cook longer than I’ve liked to drink beer. So,of course, the wife and I are big fans of Top Chef. For the longest time I’ve been waiting to see Garrett Oliver on the show with a beer pairing challenge. While my dream didn’t come true, they did have a challenge on the show, even if it was a quick fire challenge.

The challenge was titled “Simple Pleasures” and started with 16 pitchers of beer for the chefs to sample and choose from. Unfortunately, “simple” was the theme of this challenge. Many of the chefs didn’t understand the beers they were sampling and given the selections they had to work with, I can’t say I blame them. The selection was your generic fancy macro/import bottled selection you might find in a bar, including some fruit flavored Michelob Ultras which made me gag a little by even looking at.

One selection of note was the Redhook ESB that the chef chose to pair with a pork dish. When I hear Redhook and pork, I don’t see how you don’t hit a home run with that combination, but he ended up finishing rather poorly. One of the highlights was a dish of mussels paired with Hoegaarden and with some citrus tang. The winner featured spicy shrimp and scallop beignets with Landshark Lager.

In general, the chefs treated beer pretty badly. It was obvious they weren’t exposed to quality beers in their travels. Hopefully, this is just the beginning, and in the future beer can get more exposure in connection with fine cuisine.

Note: I realize I am posting this before it is actually airing on the West Coast. If you got a problem with it, get a dish.

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