A beer lover's banquet

A great deal of thought goes in to the Fuller’s beer and food menu. Purely in the interests of research, Ben McFarland went along to a tasting session

London brewer Fuller, Smith & Turner has a selection of pubs called the “Fuller’s Ale & Pie Pubs.” In these pubs you can get lovely ale. And you can get lovely pies. Put them together, and you’ve got something pretty special. In fact, you’ve arguably got the finest beer and food pairing known to human kind.

But Fuller’s, a pioneering regional brewer if ever there was one, is not one to rest on its beer and food laurels. Oh no. Every few months, as part of its ongoing mission to celebrate the gastronomic love affair between the two, a beer and food banquet is held in one of Fuller’s award-wining pubs.

The idea, apart from being a great way to spend a Friday afternoon, is to help create a beer and food menu that will then be rolled-out into a number of exclusive Fuller’s venues.

So, more than 20 different beers, eight mouthwatering courses and a panel of more than a dozen Fuller’s employees and real ale enthusiasts (and one salivating, thigh-rubbing freeloading journalist always on the look out for a free lunch) came together in the search for hop and haute cuisine harmony.

John Keeling, the outspoken and charismatic head brewer at Fuller’s, chose the selection of beers (not just his own) and chaired proceedings but was careful not to shape anyone’s views.

“The idea is to let people experiment and not to rely on the views of the so-called expert,” he said. The versatility of beer, he argued, is sorely underestimated and greater than that of wine.

“It’s a mystery to me why.....

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By Ben McFarland

Section : Beer and Food

Page number : 40