][1]The 5pm Dining blog has not been far from a glass of something tasty most nights recently. And, for once, it’s been very educational, not to mention hugely enjoyable.
Last Tuesday night, we were at Indigo Yard in Edinburgh’s West End. Part of the hugely successful Montpeliers group, the bar had a major revamp last summer and, as part of the overhaul, they introduced a wide range of craft beers to complement their existing global selection of draught brews.
It was a bit of a gamble for the bar. Traditionally, bars make more margin on spirits and wine than they do beer. Anything that encourages customers to drink more beer runs the risk of undermining more profitable sales.
Or at least, that was the perceived wisdom.
Craft beer boost
At Indigo Yard, their experience has been that their increased beer sales have been matched by a chunky uplift in sales across the board. Far from eating into the profits of other key products, extending the range of craft beers available seems to have boosted them.
It’s an interesting theory and one that may become apparent to other operators as they try to carve a slice of the booming craft ale market.
As part of their drive to revitalise beer sales, Indigo Yard have been working with Molson Coors to match foods with craft beers.
Beer and food pairings
In particular, they have been working at pairing food with beers from the Blue Moon Brewing Co in Colorado; the Franciscan Well brewery in Cork and Sharp’s Brewery in Cornwall – all of which are brands owned by Molson Coors.
We tasted six different beers from these breweries with six different foods. We’re not going to go through all the pairings here but we will have a shout out for a couple of them.
Stout pudding
The Blue Moon, a Belgian-style wheat beer, worked phenomenally well with spicy Thai green king prawns. Oats are one of the ingredients in the brew and these give it a creamy texture – handy for taming hot spice.
Another cracking marriage was the Shandon Stout from Franciscan Wells paired with a rich chocolate cheesecake. Beer and cake might sound like a no-go area. However, the creamy, roasted, slightly chocolaty notes of the beer worked with the dark chocolate of the pud.
Feeling bitter?
We also picked up a handy hint. The bitterness of a beer is produced by hops and in particular by the hop oils produced during the brewing process. In the finished beer, the oil rises to the head of the liquid in the foam.
So, if you want to taste how bitter any beer is, a wee dab of your finger in the head will give you a more accurate gauge than taking a swig.