Beer Naturally boost for beer and food matching

Beer and food matching has been taken to new levels after pressure group Beer Naturally took its message to top sommeliers.

Beer Naturally, the generic campaign from brewer Coors and the Independent Family Brewers of Britain, has launched an initiative to help Britain's top gastropubs and restaurants understand the marketing and commercial benefits of serving beer and food.

Sommeliers are responsible for putting together a wine list that complements the food served by a restaurant or gastropub, but Beer Naturally is hoping that they will now choose to serve beer alongside some dishes.

They treated a group of top sommeliers to lunch at London restaurant Aubergine where the head brewer of New York's Brooklyn Brewery Garrett Oliver teamed up with UK beer expert Mark Dorber and chefs Thierry Tomasin and William Drabble to demonstrate just how well beer goes with food.

"If you are not offering a choice of beer styles to your customers you are missing out," Mr Oliver told the sommeliers.

"It shows that you are not thinking about offering what your customers need and that means you will be missing out on profit potential."

He pointed out that while wine is often what customers choose to accompany their food, beer could match many foods even better.

"Beer has talents that wine doesn't and can often contrast and harmonise with the flavours of the food in a way that wine can't," he said.

"With cheese, I believe beer wins hands down over red wine and cherry beers from Belgium or my own Brooklyn Chocolate Stout are a better alternative to sweet wines when paired with chocolate torte."

Mr Oliver ended by pointing out that in New York beer has the same mark-up as wine and is served in wine glasses or crystal. "We have managed to put beer on the pedestal it deserves," he said.