Just can't get enough

The Morning Advertiser's Beer With Food campaign reached its climax last week and its success has left the trade hungry for more. TONY HALSTEAD reports on who did what

Licensees and pub chefs across the country celebrated Beer With Food Week in style last week with a range of special events and food dishes to help raise the profile of Britain's great brewing heritage.

It was a week when the grape gave way to the hop as beer temporarily reclaimed its place as the natural accompaniment to food.

The event, organised by the Morning Advertiser, was sponsored by Suffolk brewer Greene King through its speciality brand Beer To Dine For.

Staff in pub kitchens devised a host of different food dishes to be served alongside selected beers.

Beer menus replaced wine lists in a number of pubs and diners visiting some outlets were offered a free glass of beer when they ordered specially selected dishes. Below is a round-up of some of the week's highlights.

Cask was Fox's cunning plan

Licensee Ron Blackmore was an early convert to Beer With Food and regularly promotes the concept at the Fox in Bury St Edmunds.

Blackmore is a former quality manager for brewer Greene King which means cask ale is a key element of trade at his pub.

The Fox capitalised on Beer With Food Week in a big way with a special menu that featured a beer to accompany each dish.

Dining customers were offered tastings at their table to encourage them to experiment with beer as an accompaniment to food.

Special chalkboards and posters around the interior of the Greene King tenancy also flagged up the special week.

"I am always trying to convert customers to beer with food and its often amazing the impact you can make to people's perceptions by introducing them to Old Speckled Hen with Beef Wellington or Abbot Ale with the cheese board," he says.

Blackmore feels wine and food have been too much of a focal point in recent years, but says events such as Beer With Food Week are a great opportunity to link British beer flavours with some of the subtle and strong flavours of various foods.

Wine is also a big seller at the Fox, but Blackmore believes both beer and wine as a food accompaniment can prosper quite happily. The best beer and food combination sees Greene King IPA matched with spicy dishes such as curry which Blackmore says promotes "sublime" contrasting flavours.

Greene King's own Beer To Dine For also works very well with chicken and fish dishes although the beer's versatility means it can be matched to other food styles.

Fleece warms to mini festival

A mini beer and food tasting festival was staged throughout the week at the Fleece in Witney, Oxfordshire.

Licensee John Johnston went down the traditional route of matching favourite dishes such as steak and kidney pie, sausage and mash with nominated beers.

The Fleece, part of the Peach Pub Company, also offered drinkers a range of snacks at the bar to complement the beer of their choice before the highlight of the week, a grand Beer With Food night last Thursday.

Despite its reputation for food the Fleece is also a popular cask ale venue and its real ale licensee Johnston has been pushing alongside the food menu.

"I think the week has been a big success, but the concept of beer as a natural accompaniment to food still needs bags of publicity," says Johnston.

"Our experience is that it is mainly men who are prepared to swap wine for beer when they are having a meal.

"Women are more reluctant to changing their ways possibly because they view beer as a volume drink," he explains.

"Basically beer with food is all about education, explaining to people just how different tastes and styles of beer can be just as rewarding to drink with a meal as wine."

He added: "We have spent the week trying to get the beer with food message across and I think we have got more people thinking about this."

Licensee Bob Greybrook took the brave decision to take down his wine list from the wall of the Green Dragon at Braintree, Essex, at the beginning of Beer With Food Week. It was replaced with a blackboard featuring a list of beers alongside a selection of suitable food dishes.

The pub already enjoys a reputation for beer and food innovation with batter for its fish mixed with beer and Strong Suffolk Vintage Ale dispatched to a local butcher to include in the sausage mix.

Greybrook finds traditional dishes such as beef casserole and sausage and mash are highly suitable to enjoy with beer, but admits the permutations are almost endless.

His next project is to match a new dessert with Strong Suffolk ­ a popular seller at the pub.

Beer ice cream sweetens takings

Licensee Ian Minto laid claim to one of the most innovative projects for Beer With Food Week.

Minto, who recently took over the Gray Ox at Liversedge, West Yorkshire, produced what he claims to be a first for the pub industry ­ beer-flavoured ice cream.

The Jennings Brewery tenant devised the unusual dish after chatting to one of his regulars who runs his own ice-cream business.

Jennings' Cumberland Ale-flavoured ice cream appeared on the Gray Ox menu in the lead up to Beer With Pubs Week and looks set to remain a permanent fixture.

"The conversation with one of the regulars enabled me to create a dessert which, to my knowledge, cannot be found on any other pub menu in the country.

"I aim to build on the pub's excellent reputation by coming up with creative and innovative ideas for our food menu," Minto says.

Liverpool brewer Robert Cain & Company teamed up with a leading north-west restaurant chain Simply Heathcotes to promote a special fish dish during Beer With Food Week.

All five Heathcote restaurants added deep-fried Whitby cod in Cains' beer batter to their menus.

The choice of dish was a natural one for Cains whose owners Ajmail and Sudarghara Dusanj began their careers running fish and chip shops.

The brothers later operated a firm of beer and drinks wholesalers in the midlands before buying the Liverpool brewery.

Chefs running kitchens in the Heathcote estate found the Cains beers ideal, helping to create a light batter with a perfect crispy finish.

The Percy Arms at Chilworth, Surrey and the Red Lion at Stodmarsh, Canterbury, were two pubs which successfully combined beer with local fresh food.

A fresh meat counter, which allows diners to choose their own cut of meat for their meal, has been a feature at the pub for some time.

Staff were on hand to help customers select their own cut of meat and then offered advice on which beers would complement them. A special "Allotment & Smallholding" menu was available for customers at the Red Lion and featured a range of fresh produce produced locally.

Diners selecting from the menu were offered a free glass of Greene King's Beer To Dine For as part of a special package.