Steve Koenemann

Celebrating Independence Day

Its hard to believe that we are half way through the summer already. The 4^th of July is generally the height of the summer weather we have here during Vermont’s short summer. Before long the nights will begin to cool down and we will start back into our long winter weather cycle. The weather so far this summer has been hit or miss… sometimes pleasantly sunny, but also a lot of rain. We even had a chance of frost for a couple of nights just a few weeks ago. This weekend, however, the “weather gods” have seen fit to provide us with perfect weather for the long holiday weekend… temperatures in the 80s to near 90F, a small chance of rain and plenty of sunshine… love it…

With the nice weather on tap, we will plan to spend a fair amount of time outside enjoying the sunshine and warmth. It stands to reason that we will choose the food that we eat to fit this great weather. To my family, that means cooking food on the grill. My wife is a great cook and she has been working over the last couple of days to plan out and prepare for our weekend meals. As the food picture has come into focus, I have been thinking about what beer I will choose to have with each meal. I am not that fanatical about food/beer pairing, but have been exposed to enough of it by people that are to recognize that there is, definitely, a synergy between certain types of beers and foods. You need to understand that I really like hoppy beer, so there is a certain part of me that believes that a good IPA or Imperial IPA could go with anything. I do like many other types of beer, of course, and I am beginning to broaden my views a little bit as to which type of beer goes best with particular types of food. I’ll run down the potential menu for the weekend and try to give you a sense of what beers might come out of my beer larder to go along with them. With all of my beer travels lately, I have a very wide variety of beer to choose from for these meals. I hope that you won’t be too surprised if I choose something “non-traditional” as a pairing, simply because I like drinking that particular beer or want to try something new.

I grew up in southern Indiana and if you know anything about that part of the country, you know that barbecued pork is a prized summer tradition (year round actually). We will celebrate some of my mid-western heritage by having some of my wife’s excellent barbecued ribs. My wife and daughter, who has joined us for the weekend, are not much into spicy foods (my wife thinks that black pepper is “hot”), so the BBQ sauce on these ribs is a bit on the sweet side. This is one of my favorite meals, so I will pick out something “special” to go along with it. A while back a friend of mine from California was kind enough to send me a selection of Russian River Brewing’s fine beers. In that box was a bottle of Blind Pig IPA. While not available here in Vermont, I have had this awesome beer before and I think that its fruity hop characteristics, good malt balance and medium bitterness will fit perfectly with these ribs.

Some of the “bad” things about getting older are the changes that you need to make in your diet to accommodate health problems and to attempt to keep the “battle of the bulge” under control. There are a number of foods that used to be a more regular part of my diet that have taken a back seat to some of the more healthy alternatives. This is not that terrible, as I like some of these alternatives, but there are some foods we do not eat regularly any more and I miss them. One of those missed items is a good hot dog. While I don’t mind eating turkey or chicken hot dogs and I have even tried tofu hot dogs (not as good), there is just nothing like a “real” natural casing hot dog (smothered in onions with mustard). Unlike many parts of the country, we only get a few days each year with the temperatures at 90F or above. While this type of weather generally calls for a lighter beer (which I will be drinking plenty of in this heat), I think that to combination of the fatty hot dog meat (yum!) along with the onions and a spicy mustard will drive me to a stronger beer for this meal. I have a couple of bottles left of Great Divide’s Hercules Double IPA which I believe would fit the bill in this case. Intensely hoppy, but well balanced, I think that this beer will add to the enjoyment of tasting one of the favored summer meals which I dearly miss eating regularly.

The last of the meals planned for the weekend is very traditional and, in spite of its relative unhealthiness, still can fortunately be found on the Koenemann dietary agenda (occasionally). There is something special about a hamburger that has been cooked over a hot fire that makes my mouth water. Over the years I have enjoyed many different beers with my burgers, but there are a few that have become a favorite pairing. I have found that I really like a good Belgian-style beer with this meal. There is something about the fruity yeast and the subtle sweetness in a good dubbel or tripel that does it for me when I its paired with a good hamburger. I also like a good Scotch ale with a hamburger for the same reasons as the Belgians, but the addition of the peated malts found in the Scotch adds to the smokiness of the grilled meat. I happen to have both types of beer available to me this weekend. For the Belgian, I have a bottle of Allagash Confluence Ale that I have been dying to open. This beer also is made with some Brett, so some sourness will come into play as well. For the Scotch, I have a bottle of Moylans Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale. I have to tell you that I have not decided which of these beers I will choose… it’ll be a game time decision. It is also possible that I will decide on something completely different. That’s what is nice about having a variety of beers to choose from; I can choose to drink whichever one I want at the time.

Regardless of what you choose to eat this weekend or what beer, wine or whatever you choose to pair it with, choose to share the experience with family and friends. This American national holiday is the only one that happens during the summer and I plan to take full advantage of that and the great weather in store for us this weekend. As a reminder to all of you, please make this a safe weekend as well… no drinking and driving and be careful with those fireworks! A happy 4^th to all of you…

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