GUD FEATURE ARTICLE

Wine versus Beer: The Truth Revealed

Following a general trend away from the industrialization of food, the past few decades have seen the craft beer movement sweep across the nation and introduce an entire generation to a world of beer flavor that their parents likely never knew existed. In the wake of all this improved drinking, a class of chest-pounding pundits making bold proclamations about the superiority of beer over wine, particularly when pairing with food, is rising. Meanwhile, smarmy wine collectors with large amounts of disposable cash snigger behind their thin-lipped sneers at these upstart knuckle-draggers. Can one drink really be better than the other?

Let’s take the corporate brands, the drinks that are produced in mass quantities with an eye toward minimal cost and homogenized “flavor”, out of the equation. They tolerably serve their purpose at wedding receptions and art gallery openings but have no place in this debate.

Wine lovers will argue that a good wine speaks of place. After the sun and soil have done their work, after the grapes have been hand-harvested, crushed and fermented with indigenous yeast, after the wine has been aged and bottled, after all of this, the year that the grapes grew is placed on the label and you have the essence of a geographic area. A time capsule that tastes good.

Beer enthusiasts will argue that beer also speaks of time and place. Though malted barley is a commodity that stores well and can easily be shipped anywhere, a good brewer can use it to reproduce a classic style of beer, rich with history, for local consumption. And it will be less expensive and easier to share at convivial gatherings. Some brewers will even craft a product, much like wine in fact, subject to the unpredictability of airborne yeasts and bacteria.

And they would both be right.

Other people will promote a Laissez-faire philosophy and tell you simply to drink what you like. But let’s face it, we have human brains and are not to be trusted. We trick ourselves all the time. If you base a taste preference on little experience the only thing that you accomplish is a narrowing of your options. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to try absolutely everything available. Do a little research and start with the benchmarks. Or try what your region has to offer. Learn.

That jaw-dropping food and drink pairing that you covet is more than likely going to come as a surprise rather than a planned event. The variability and nuance in quality fare is sometimes revelatory in both good and bad ways. Just as we should celebrate the individuality of people, we should also celebrate the individuality of our experiences.

So don’t take anyone’s word for it. Explore. At mealtime, or when you have a nice cheese spread, go with your gut feeling when deciding what to drink. Use the customary guidelines if you want, or do the opposite, just to see what happens. Draw from experience or use your intuition. A regular drinker will be aided by a metaphysical power that connects the universe through molecules of ethanol. It usually doesn’t kick in until after the first glass is drained, admittedly, but one eventually learns to harness this force to support their pleasures.

At any rate, the end result of all this scrutiny is clear: Cider is the best drink to pair with dinner. Seriously, you must try it with roast pork. It’s like nothing else.

Posted on 2010.04.16 by Todd Abrams at 2:24 am
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