A blue-collar tasting party

Click to Enlarge Browse Vail Daily Photos Alpine Wine & Spirits employees Clay Williams, left, and Mickey Werner hold beer they recommend for a varietal focused beer tasting. Colorado is the second largest brewing state in the nation, Werner said, so there are plenty of options if you want to drink beer brewed close to home. Kristin Anderson/Vail Daily Get Arts and Entertainment Feeds

Caramie Schnell
Vail, CO Colorado
April 27, 2007

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"[I recommend] ... bread, meat, vegetables and beer."

-Sophocles' philosophy of a moderate diet



Despite a pronounced lack of pretension, suds reign supreme around the world - from convivial beer-soaked gardens in Germany to Sapporo-heavy sushi spots in Japan. But despite a casual image, beer can be as varied and complex as wine - just ask a brewmaster. Beer can range from the palest yellow to burnt caramel to midnight black. It can taste fruity, evoking apricots or peaches; citrusy, reminiscent of lemons or limes; or spicy, with hints of cloves or coriander. Some beers are hoppy, some skunky and some downright sweet. Because of beer's ultimate versatility, variation and affordability, it's the perfect beverage for a tasting party, said Dina Cheney, author of Tasting Club (DK Publishing/Penguin).


"People don't realize how varied and interesting beer is, especially if you always drink light beer. There's beer that tastes like chocolate, beer that tastes like raspberries.

"Artisinal beers are so hot right now, it's definitely a new trend - it's sort of catching up with wine and deserves to be respected," Cheney said.

Even high-end hotels like L.A.'s Sheraton employ full-time beer directors, Cheney said. A friend recently told her Pottery Barn's Catalog features a spread on beer tasting parties - "that really shows you it's getting mainstream," she said.

Beer tips from A to Z

The tools Materials to have on hand: Bottle opener. Beer or tall glasses - one for each person. The beer - six varieties is a good number to taste. You'll need two twelve-ounce bottles for every eight people. Bucket or large bowl for discarding unwanted beer. Friends who preferably like beer. ============================================ ============================================ The snacks To keep guests from getting too tipsy before they start tasting, it's a good idea to set out some simple appetizers - cheese and crackers, olives, vegetables and hummus and nuts are a good start - and non-alcoholic drinks, such as sparkling water. For cheese offerings, Jeremy Campbell from eat!drink! recommends the Chimay Cheese, a Chimay "beer-washed" cow's milk cheese from Belgium. For hoppier beers, like IPA's, Campbell recommends sharper cheddars like Keen's Farm Cheddar - "English cheddars have a little more flavor - it's a little more robust," says Campbell. During the actual tasting, serve plain crackers or crusty bread, which will help cleanse the palate between beers. ============================================ ============================================ The beers Mickey Werner, managing partner of Alpine Wine and Spirits in Vail, suggests a varietal-style tasting for a first-time beer tasting. "Compare a lager versus an ale, an IPA with an EPA and compare a stout with a porter," he said. Werner had some specific recomendations: For the lager and ale comparison, pair Victory Brewing Company's Prima Pils with O'Dells 90 Schilling Amber Ale or 5 Barrel Pale Ale. Try Red Truck's IPA (India Pale Ale) alongside Green Flash Brewing Company's Extra Pale Ale, which Werner calls "extra hoppy." Pair Left Hand Brewing's Milkstout with Breckenridge Brewery's Vanilla Porter. =========================================== =========================================== Bomber bonus Want to take home your own no-brainer beer tasting set? You're in luck - each month Jeremy Campbell of eat!drink! in Edwards picks beers for a "Bomber six-pack," which sells for $30. "If you price it out you end up saving about 10 percent," Campbell said. May's selection includes one bomber-size bottle of each: Rouge, Kells Irish Lager; Stone, Arrogant Bastard Ale; Ommegang, Rare VOS Belgian Style Amber; Ska, Decadent Imperial IPA; Samuel Smiths, Nut Brown Ale; St. Peters, Old Stlye Porter. ============================================

First timer's guide

"Beer 101" is how Cheney refers to what a first time beer tasting should encompass. Try different types of beer - an ale, a lager, a lambic, a fruit beer, a steam beer - to familiarize people with the main classes of beer. Save expensive, complex beers like Trappist ales (beer made in Belgian or Dutch monasteries) for a few parties down the line, Cheney said.

A good way to structure a tasting is to try the beers in order of mildest to strongest. Try the lighter beers, like a wheat beer, first and the darkest beer, maybe a stout or porter, last. Cheney said rinsing out glasses between tastings isn't necessary, but she recommended having a bucket on the table or nearby for people to pour out what they don't want to finish.

Each taste should equal about 1/3 of a cup, she said.

"The good thing about beer is it has about half the alcohol content of wine, so basically people are going to have two cups of beer per tasting so you don't have to worry about sobriety issues."

Rather than putting out baskets and bowls of salty potato chips and pretzels during the tasting, which can interfere with how the beer tastes, Cheney recommends bland crackers and maybe some crusty bread to cleanse the palate between samples. Before and after the tasting is a different story though.

"In the book I recommend cheese balls, whether store bought or homemade, and serving assorted sausages with mustards and maybe a salad. Afterwards, maybe chocolate dipped strawberries and pretzels."

"It should be fun and nothing pretentious - it is beer, after all."



Caramie Schnell can be reached at 748-2984 or cschnell@vaildaily.com.