Erik Maza has a piece into today's Taste section about the art of pairing craft beers with good food. The idea of beer with dinner isn't brand new, Maza acknowledges, and nor is the trend of hosting beer dinners. But there's an increased serious of purposeness about them.
Coming Monday, a beer dinner at Woodberry Kitchen featuring Frederick's Flying Dog Brewery.
I know some of you out there are veteran beer pairers -- how about some tips for the novice?
Although the best thing about pairing beer with food is that there's not the volume of received wisdom that accompanies wine pairings.
And of course a well-trained and informed waitstaff can make a huge difference.
But as Spike Gjerde advises in the article, the best advice might be: "Experiment."
Baltimore Sun photo/Algerina Perra: El Dorado Single Hop IPA paired with Liberty Delight beef tartare, spring garlic, egg yolk and potato chips.