Beer is served in gourmet restaurants

Is beer the new wine?

Beer has never been so trendy. It reaches all epicureans, wine lovers, who already had the taste to discover new wines and vintages and who are now discovering the treasures of the brewing world, from Abbey and Trappist beers, to gueuzes and not forgetting beers aged in oak barrels, sometimes containing great wines (such as Bush de Nuit or Bush de Charmes) or Whisky (such as Gouden Carolus or Silly Scotch).

It is quite naturally that these curious people, eager for novelties and tired of the standardization of the offer of pasteurized beers in supermarkets, turned to creative and craft beers, with much more developed flavors.

Beer offers many more different flavours and has a fabulous aromatic palette, with infinite nuances of aromas (bitter, floral, citrus, spices, herbs, fruits...) The beer has revised its consumption codes by proposing beautiful 75cl corked bottles, with bottle refermentation, which can be kept and evolve in the cellar, just like wine. 

Beers are enjoyed in stemmed glasses that reveal all their flavours.

For all these reasons, many great starred chefs have grabbed the great beers to accompany their dishes.

Florent Ladeyn, who owns two restaurants, in Boeschepe (Auberge du Vert Mont, 1 star in the Michelin guide) and Lille (Bloempot, Flemish canteen), has long integrated beer into his cuisine. He says: "Beer has its place in a gourmet restaurant. It highlights the bitterness of northern dishes. ”

Cyril Lignac is so convinced of the perfect marriage between beer and fine cuisine that he has created his own beer in his own image (in collaboration with a traditional brewery) available in his restaurants: "A good beer will always be cheaper than a good bottle of wine. This offers greater accessibility to its immense range of flavours. »

Philippe Etchebest has teamed up with a major brewer to raise awareness of the enormous potential of beer in gastronomy: "When he develops a new brew, the Master Brewer is in a tasteful approach and a reflection on taste, which is my daily life".

Héléne Darroze has created many special recipes to go perfectly with some of the beers she has selected.

Julien Poisot, chef at Château de Mercuès (a Michelin star), prepares gourmet dishes specially designed to match the many specialities of the beers on offer during the "Mets et bières" evening organised each year.

Grégory Marchand, chef of the Frenchie restaurants in Paris and London, has also chosen beer to accompany his creations. "It's a growing playground. This drink finds its perfect place between sake, spirits and wine in food/drink combinations. But it is sad to note that in most restaurants, the references do not follow. Good beer cards are so rare that they become a criterion of choice and quality for me."

It is true that unfortunately few restaurants have understood the immense potential of beer in gastronomy. But they exist and are more and more numerous.

Let's mention the restaurant La Fine Mousse (Paris) which offers a very wide choice of beers, but above all which offers surprising food/beer combinations. For each plate, a carefully selected glass of beer is blended to offer a very relevant blend.

In Switzerland, chef Mathieu Bruno, from the restaurant "Là-Haut" in Chardonne (16/20 at GaultMillau), accompanies his dishes with great beers selected by beer sommelier Cyril Hubert.

Wine sommeliers in France are increasingly sensitive to complex combinations with drinks other than wine, as Jean-Baptiste Klein explains: "Beer has its rightful place in restaurants and even become an obvious choice". "

So beer is not just for aperitifs! Invite beer to your table. You will be seduced!