SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — On one side of the pub, coconut cream stout, green tea honey saison and spiced amber ale flowed from taps.
In the kitchen, gourmet sandwiches tucked into banh mi rolls were loaded with pork shoulder, pickled jalapeno peppers, house-made cheese and other gourmet garnishes. The lively crowd in the sparkly new Foulmouthed Brewing came for both — together.
Beer and food pairings are kicking aside the predictable wine and cheese, tried and true cabernet and sirloin and ho-hum chardonnay and shrimp. Now that beer is bottled, corked and marketed like wine, a new matrix of taste and nuance has joined the renaissance. And chefs in brewpubs are having fun matching creative meals with the latest hits from the craft keg.
“We do just as much food as we do beer,” said Danny Lindberg, head chef at Foulmouthed Brewery, where a scratch kitchen under the same roof as South Portland’s latest brewery attracts hungry crowds. “I think a lot about geography when I’m cooking.”
If a dish is Cuban or Asian, Lindberg, who has been a chef at Hugo’s and Nosh in Portland, draws inspiration from the hops that make a beer sing.
What would coax out its flavors best? That’s a question always on his mind.
“As an avid homebrewer, [Lindberg] understands the flavor and all the components that go into beer,” said Foulmouthed Brewing owner Craig Dilger. “It’s both an art and a science.”
The chef samples beer two weeks before it’s ready, during the fermentation process, to understand the direction it’s heading.
“I taste it and pick up things that [brewers] don’t pick up; pick up notes that I can pair with food, because they either taste like a food item, or would contrast well with food,” Lindberg said.
Though beer suggestions are not on the menu — “I don’t like to tell people what to do,” Lindberg said — the chef’s honey tamarind carnitas sandwich is heightened with an Iron Goddess, a wheat and honey saison made with oolong tea. Diners also would be happy with a hoppy Kaizen saison, because its citrus flavor works well with the zest-cured pork shoulder.
“As long as you hit the flavor points: salty, sweet, bitter, texture,” you can create a great pairing, said Lindberg. “I’m really passionate about sandwiches and beer.”
His spicy BLTs, grilled cheese with smoked mushrooms and red onion jam, and plates of poutine are a departure from pub grub.
“I like variety. I’ll talk with the brewer and ask, ‘What are you going to brew?’ and I’ll come up with some food,” Lindberg said.
It’s not a new concept. Germans have enjoyed beer with sausages and sauerkraut for centuries, yet, the latest iteration in Greater Portland can be downright Epicurean.
But beer with peanut butter and jelly? Nick Krunkkala, who is kicking out some fun pairings at Liquid Riot Bottling Co. in the Old Port, approves.
Talk about minimizing food miles.
“I’ve always used all-Maine ingredients, now I am using beer that’s made 15 feet from where I’m cooking,” said the Portland chef.
Beer, used in marmalades and jams, is a key ingredient in his small plates menu.
“It’s a new way of eating. Typically you would pair wine with food in tapas. We are trying to reverse it,” said Krunkkala. “It’s playful food. You are not sitting down and digging into a big meal. You are standing and eating with your hands.”
European in nature, Krunkkala’s creations hinge on collaboration and keeping senses heightened.
“As a chef you learn to taste and smell and try and pull out different ingredients and create different flavors,” said Krunkkala, who consults with in-house brewsmiths and spirit makers, just as he does farmers and fishermen.
“As I’m tasting a beer, or walking through a field, the wheels start to turn. Ideas will pop into my head, not all of them make it,” he said.
But many do.
The venison slider, a succulent meatloaf made with onions cooked down with runoff beer topped with melted gruyere cheese and blueberry ketchup is best paired with Primus, a crisp Belgian-style beer with hints of juniper.
He suggests the same brew for his grownup PB&J.
“I use strawberry jam cooked with the ichigo cream beer,” a strawberry cream ale with a sake yeast and fresh Maine strawberries, Krunkkala said. A toasted hazelnut butter on a buttered potato roll served with fried plantain chips is “an adult version of a kid’s classic.” To keep it from becoming too PG, pair it with the lighter Belgian IPA.
Speaking of children, treat yourself this summer and order a coconut cream float, served with stout and topped with Gifford’s French Vanilla Ice Cream at Foulmouthed.
In this keg-to-kitchen craze, brewers like it, too. When Krunkkala asks Liquid Riot’s staff what’s coming up on their beer roster, it “keeps them on their toes, keeps them in the loop.”
Like coffee, now roasted lighter and fruitier, “beer has changed and evolved so much. It’s not too heavy. It’s crisp, refreshing, floral and citrusy on a hot day,” he said.
To Krunkkala, who came from a wine-focused restaurant in Boothbay, beer and food pairings are of the moment.
“Right now it makes sense to incorporate beer into dishes. It’s an elevated level of cooking. I’m always looking to enhance recipes. Beer keeps it very interesting,” he said.
