And what a fabulous choice there is, not only from our own brilliant breweries, but also imported from Germany, Belgium, the Czech Republic, the States, New Zealand and so on.
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The vast range includes light, hoppy, citrussy lagers; malty, biscuity brews; creamy, soft wheat beers; wonderfully refreshing pale ales; rich stouts and porters; and exotic, perfumed beers flavoured with spices, fruit and herbs. As with wine, don’t expect to adore everything, but start to experiment and you will soon alight on a style of beer that hits the mark.
So where to start? Well, beer drinking must relate to the season. A summer beer should, above all, be refreshing, which means at least a trace of zesty, citrussy or even slightly bitter hops; or the smooth, clove-scented, cloudy depths of a cold wheat beer. Choose something well-chilled that you can glug back to slake the thirst. Leave the dark, heavier porters and stouts to the winter when you need their warmer, comforting flavours.
BEER AND FOOD MATCHING
Look out for summer beers that go well with food. Yes, the fine art of beer and food matching is finally beginning to catch on, with the new breed of gastropubs often leading the charge to explain that you need to balance like with like, just as with food and wine. That means cracking open a fruity beer with a fruity-tasting dish (even fruity-spicy, as in some Indian dishes), a creamy beer with creamy sauces, spicy with spicy, dry with dry, and so on.
Drinking very cold beers with fatty food is one particularly good piece of advice – the chill cuts through the richness. Jonny Goodall, author of the light-hearted but useful Boys’ Beer Book (£4.99, Mitchell Beazley) recommends specific matches such as hoppy beers with coriander and cardamom-flavoured food; yeasty beers with crusty, sweet-tomato topped pizzas; roasty-toasty flavoured beers with smoky barbecue food and fresh, spicy Pilsner with salty bacon or smoked sausage. Lager is also pretty good with beer-battered fish and chips. And if you’re worried about the effect of beer on your waistline, the news isn’t all bad. A 300ml serving of 4.6 per cent lager (about half a pint) contains 123 calories, compared with 97 calories for a 125ml glass of wine.
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Yes, even in the enlightened 21st century, beer is still unfairly associated with bellies, beards and bores.
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COURSES FOR BEER LOVERS
Anyone interested in taking the subject seriously should consider a course run by The Beer Academy, which was set up last year in an attempt to turn around some of the myths that surround beer. Beer Academy director Rupert Ponsonby stresses the easy association between wine and beer. “Malty beers are like red wines; wheat ones and pale lagers more like white wine,” he says. “An icy cold, cloudy Belgian wheat beer is the Sauvignon Blanc of the beer world, while a beer with lots of Goldings hops has the fruity, citrus quality of a Chablis.”
The Academy offers a short tasting session and one - or three-day courses. Visit www.beeracademy.org or call 01276 417855 for a course near you.
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