The Summertime Brews

In Summer, when the sun is still high, a glass of beer naturally comes to mind. Beer is sociable. It is also decidedly American---in a melting pot sort of way. It has come to our shores along with the rest of us. The hop is the product of some promiscuity; its distant relations include the grape, Cannabis and asparagus---a hedonistic family, indeed. Eating hop shoots is believed to purify the blood, and the custom dates back to Roman times. As a tradition, it is not big in the New World, but you never can tell. Americans may have to make do with asparagus. Served in a light, buttery omelet, with a glass of a dry, aromatic, pale Belgian import such as Duvel (Devil, in Flemish), it makes a sinfully luxurious Sunday-brunch dish.

Another new import in the American market, also from Belgium, is Sudden Death (more seductively, the label is in Flemish: Mort Subite). It's not an especially strong beer, but it is exotic--- cherries are macerated in the brew during fermentation. No fewer than four rival labels of Belgian cherry beer, varietally known as kriek, are now being imported into the U.S. They may be exotic, but they clearly have a following, and they are the definitive summertime brews, with their pink-champagne color and tart, sharply quenching palate. Indeed, in Belgium they are customarily served only in summer.

German imports reflect a nation that has special beers for every season and a continuous calendar of celebrations at which to drink (continued on page 190)Summertime Brews(continued from page 116) them: Springtime brings bock beers; summer welcomes in Weizen, or wheat, beers; and in autumn there are Oktoberfest beers. Bock beers are strong and sustaining, Weizen beers fruity and refreshing, Oktoberfest beers malty and nourishing. Such specialty brews were a part of American tradition, too, before Prohibition, and they are now making a comeback. German-American brewers in Wisconsin have long produced bock beers in spring. In the West, the Anchor Brewing Company of San Francisco has gone one better by producing its own Weizen beer, strictly as a summer specialty. If beer is the Yuppie drink, then Weizen is the most upwardly mobile style. Look for those tall, vase-shaped glasses of Weizen beer, garnished with a slice of lemon.

The British refresh themselves with draughts of Bass or some other English ale. In the rare event of a hot summer, the ale may be compounded with equal proportions of lemonade or ginger beer to produce a shandy. Fill a punch bowl with large chunks of ice and gently pour on equal quantities of an English ale and ginger beer. You might even care to add a dash of sweet lime juice and, perhaps, dust your beer punch with nutmeg. Add some fresh fruit, such as Michigan cherries, for decoration.

The hop and the juniper have long been partners in crime. Many a Dutchman has been known to brighten his summer by using his Heineken or Grolsch, Brand's or Gulpener to chase down a shot of Bols or De Kuyper gin. With such imported light beers as Amstel now being challenged by Nordik Wölf and Rolland (St. Pauli Girl's boyfriend), perhaps aquavit and schnapps will be looking for chasers, too.

The most sophisticated summertime brew is surely Guinness, lightly chilled, served half and half with champagne. Pour these two noble ingredients simultaneously into a pitcher---very gently, indeed---and serve them at an outdoor party on a hot summer's day. The tangy kiss of stout is arousing; its smoothness, soothing. Marry those to the frisson of champagne and you have an intoxicating combination. Black velvet is the perfect name for it. There is a less extravagant version, too: black satin. This combines stout and cider, a bittersweet accompaniment to roast suckling pig.

Beer is the natural drink at a cookout, and in these eclectic gastronomic times, it should match the food. There are some natural combinations---pale beers with fish or chicken; dark ones with spicy foods; ales with red meats---but there is also the question of provenance.

For example, if the cheese is from Wisconsin, shouldn't the beer be, too? Miller, the Wisconsin brewery that popularized light beer, developed America's archetypal summertime brew. Now Miller has a new, draught-fresh beer called Plank Road on the drawing board. If you are going to have a Creole shrimp boil, try to find Dixie beer from New Orleans. If it's going to be ribs over a mesquite barbecue, how about something from Texas: Pearl, Lone Star or the rare Shiner beer? Those most American of beers are light and cooling and won't overpower food.

To hunt down beers from corners of the Union may seem a frivolous pursuit, but so is partying. That is the joy of summer: long, lazy days without four walls to trap the soul, without having to dress up or work too hard at anything, even at entertaining. No patently crafted, elaborate dinners with condescending little wines, just a cookout with beer. A connoisseur's cookout, all the same, with a choice of food---and beer---that friends will remember with a sunny glow in the dark days of next winter.

One beer is not enough. Was it ever? Offer a selection, but in modest servings--- six ounces, in a large wineglass or highball glass, is plenty. The idea is to taste, not to chugalug. Nor will beer stay cold in larger vessels, especially if it has been only lightly chilled. Most beers taste best at 45 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit, though some specialties should be warmer or colder. Half a dozen beers is about right--- perhaps three from the U.S., each from a different state, and the others from a variety of countries. Pick each beer to suit a certain stage of the proceedings.

A Welcoming Drink

A Belgian cherry kriek: Mort Subite, Lindeman, Liefman or Belle Vue.

With Dips

A Mexican beer, preferably Tecate, very well chilled, served with salt round the rim of the glass and with a half lime or lemon.

With Cheese

If you're serving Wisconsin cheddar, try a beer from that state. If you're serving a Canadian cheddar, try a Labatt's or a Molson Golden. Muenster calls for brown bread and a Belgian monastic beer such as Orval. Cream cheese, radishes and rye bread go well with a Weizen beer from Germany.

With Sausages, wurst or salami

A German beer such as Beck's, Henninger or St. Pauli Girl, or a Midwestern brew such as Budweiser, Michelob, Stroh's Signature or Christian Moerlein.

With Oysters or clams

An Irish stout---Guinness or Beamish--- or an American porter such as Jubilee or Pottsville, or a black velvet.

With Chili

An amber beer, ideally Dos Equis, from Mexico.

With Ribs

A Texas beer, or an American dark such as Michelob Classic Dark, or a smoked German beer such as Kaiserdom Rauchbier.

With Steak

Bass, Whitbread or Sam Smith's Pale Ale, or an American counterpart, served at a natural cellar temperature.

Keep your beer indoors and out of direct sunlight until you are ready to serve it. Exposure to sunlight can quickly make beer taste skunky---a known cause of the summertime blues.

"Beer is the natural drink at a cookout, and in these eclectic times, it should match the food."