What Goes Best with Fish and Venison

Northern Brewer General
1

I am a newbie and just brewed my first batch. Like most newbies, I made the mistake of not watching my fermentation temperature. I am also sure that I will make additional mistakes as I learn.

My hobbies include saltwater fishing (salmon, cod, rockfish, sea trout, etc.) and bow hunting for deer.
I would like to know what brews (beer and wine) that readers would recommend to serve with my fish, etc.

Prime time is approaching and I want to learn, brew, and stock up so I can enjoy the upcoming season, even more so.

Thanks in advance. :blah:

2

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I am kindered spirit my friend. Good luck this season!

Red Meat: You typically want a beer with some rich maltiness/dark malts/melanoidins. My favorites are any porter (relatively easy/quick to make), british pale ales of any strength, American browns, ambers…

however the rich flavors of venison go best IMO with traditional bock, doppelbock (do yourself a favor and have a Celebrator with one of the backstraps, pan seared!), weizenbock, munich dunkel, maybe even dunkelweizens. Frankly, I also think some of the darker belgian trappist beers go great with most game meats. Particularly dubbels, BDSA’s, belgian pale ales (such as Palm or Fat Tire). Oh and by the way, don’t even think about NOT using the beer to deglaze the pan and make a reduction with the venison juices and some dried fruits (figs, apricots, cherries, cranberries, etc.)!

Sours are even better with venison, but that will have to wait until next season!

Salmon: Depending on how its prepared, you likely want something with a lot of wheat, not a lot of melanoidin/dark malt. American blond ale, but more likely hefeweizens, wits, belgian blonde, tripel, BGSA. I am partial to wits with salmon, poached in the witbier with some onions, salt, pepper, lemon, garlic.

Being a sour fan, one of my faves is salmon with Berliner Weisse, or especially a geueze (but again, you probably don’t have time to make the latter…in fact if you brewed it today, it wouldn’t be ready until hunting season of 2016!)

Man I need to get in the woods now :mrgreen:

3

That’s for the suggestions. I will order 1 Gallon kits and try some of your suggestions.

I guess we all have the fever and anxious to get back in the woods. This year I will do so with a little flare and take cases of home brew with me. :cheers:

4

Nothing like booze and razor-sharp broadheads.

Careful getting in and out of that treestand :mrgreen:

5

What Pietro pointed out sounds like pretty solid advice.

Something I might add would be aspects of hop character.

Hop bitterness and overall presence can match to food in a similar way as tannin in Red wine. Even though the general rule is to match dark beers with foods that like red wines, a well hopped pilsner or moderate pale ale could also go with Red meat - even game - fairly well.

And for the salmon - a standard in wine paring would be to match acid and citrus (depending on what you do with the Salmon) against the oiliness of the fish. I might suggest something quite pale in color, but with some level of bitterness. A pilsner also would work here, but I like some of the suggestions from Pietro. Might go Blanche, or Blonde / Blond. If there is a blond ale with some nice citrusy North American hop presence it could be very nice.

6

[quote=“fishntails”]That’s for the suggestions. I will order 1 Gallon kits and try some of your suggestions.

I guess we all have the fever and anxious to get back in the woods. This year I will do so with a little flare and take cases of home brew with me. :cheers: [/quote]

1 gallon = ~7-10 beers. I would look at the recipe for a 5 gallon kit. Then order the ingredients to make 2.5-3 gallons. Then you will get 1 case of beer.

There are several books on food pairings. Also some charts available online.

http://blog.beerjobber.com/wp-content/u ... er_MDC.pdf http://www.craftbeer.com/food/pairing/pairing-chart

In reality, just about any beer will work with any food. :smiley:

7

A red wine like a merlot for venison is what I prefer and for fish I prefer not to drink anything.

8

I’ve gone the route of darks with dark meat and Light with lighter colored meat.

Free recipie for you all for adjustment and a nice steak.

One bottle of an Oatmeal Stout (NB’s Recipe works wonders)
One can or pint jar of beef broth.
Some onion and mushroom to taste and a dash of Worcestershire sauce in a heavy pan like a cast iron pan.
Reduce to a thin syrup and glaze your steak with it or sear your steak with it then throw it on the grill.

For many palates though a dark meat can take roasted or heavy tannin flavors because the dark meats themselves are not a subtle taste palate wise. Though with beer in the consideration you could go with a very dry IPA to clean the palate if you are say serving it with a lot of greens.

Fish and other pale meats need something that will clean the palate for sure, or not over clutter the palate. They are great things for pale ales and SMASH recipes or just very basic ale recipes.
You don’t want to use a Very Heavy IPA that is too bitter with hops or too malt forward though as those can linger in the same way heavy roast flavors will.
Again that’s my opinion and somewhat shared by those I cook for.

9

Thanks for this fantastic suggestion. I will give it a try. :smiley:

10

Fish (fin- and shell-) I like light colored belgian ales. Saisons, blondes, tripels. Also, if you are into sour beer, gueuze and american wild ales can be absolutely fantastic with food. Try petrus aged pale with grilled or hot-smoked salmon.

I don’t eat much venison but if I did, I’d be tempted to go with a malty lager like an o’fest or dunkel.

11

Every fall I visit Lake Ontario and fish for salmon. I will give your suggestion a try next month. Thanks for the suggestions. I will let you know how it turns out. 8)

12

Check out Garret Oliver’s book, The Brewmaster’s Table. It has a lot of nice factual info about beer styles and a lot about food pairings.

13

While some people see his tone as pompous, I personally think Garrett Oliver is the man, and love this book. Great read and a great resource. I originally bought it on an e-reader so it is searchable, but someone also gave me a hard copy.

14

Thanks for this valuable reference. :cheers:

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[quote=“Pietro”]
While some people see his tone as pompous, I personally think Garrett Oliver is the man, and love this book. Great read and a great resource. I originally bought it on an e-reader so it is searchable, but someone also gave me a hard copy.[/quote]

I never got that tone reading his book or seeing any of his appearances in beer documentaries. He struck me as someone who knows his stuff. He’s adequately passionate while getting to the point. Dr. Bamforth is also delightful, but seems easily distracted and very long winded. I know, I know, he’s just being British… :lol:

As I get older, I seem to notice that those who are easily offended tend to be a little insecure.

16

Hmm…very interesting. Point taken. I’m sure that he the book will provide a new found wealth of applied knowledge.

I appreciate your view point. 8)

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[quote=“fishntails”]Hmm…very interesting. Point taken. I’m sure that he the book will provide a new found wealth of applied knowledge.

I appreciate your view point. 8) [/quote]

It’s a great all around book that any beer aficionado should probably own. The right pairing can really enhance the dining and drinking experience. I really can’t think of any reasons not to purchase this particular book. It doesn’t really discuss homebrewing, which simply wasn’t the intent of that particular volume.

18

Thanks once again. I appreciate the feedback. :cheers:

19

If I wasn’t clear, I happen to think this book, and Garrett Oliver, are HUGE for beer, and deserve tons of credit. He does so many great things for the category (not the least of which is designing/brewing great examples of it!) that he will go down in the books as a visionary/advocate/pioneer. I personally love reading his articles and listening to him when he speaks.

To your point, I think some are a touch insecure when it comes to his knowledge of beer history/science, doing al

There is a great Brewing Network Sunday Session where they interview him. GREAT interview, great radio…and free.

Buy the book :mrgreen:

20

Thanks. Will try to listen in on Sunday :smiley: