Beer & Food Pairing vs. Wine & Food Pairing - Need Advice!

[Brady Bowman]

Hi everyone,

I am helping a friend throw a beer vs. wine party for their 30th b-day. The idea is to pair a wine and a beer with each course. Everyone will vote on which on they thought paired better with that course. At the end we will tally all the votes up to see which one was favored overall, wine or beer. We are both fairly new to pairing food and wine/beer. I was wondering if anyone might have some tips as to what types of wine might work best with each course.

The menu is going to be themed around Thai food for the most part. Appetizer (summer rolls or crab won tons). First course (Tom Ka Gai Soup). Entrée (Chicken Panang Curry with rice). Dessert (cheesecake with a mango puree sauce).

Will it be hard to pair wine with this menu? What types of wine might work best with each course? Thanks for all the help. Cheers

[Brady Bowman]

Alright, so after doing some more research on the wine side, I determined that Thai food might not work the best. It would have to be mostly to all white wines and we don't want to do that; we want a mix. We changed up the menu to be more of a Japanese Steakhouse theme. The menu is now:

Appetizer - Grilled Garden Sushi Rolls (cucumber, asparagus, avocado, etc.)
First Course - Miso Soup
Main Course - Flank Steak (marinated somehow, but haven't determined yet), scallops, and a salad w/ginger dressing
Dessert - Ginger/Pear Cake

I think this menu might make it easier to pair up both the wines and the beer. What do you think?

[Thomas Keim]

Actually Brady, the beer would have been a perfect pairing for the spicier thai food -

I would suggest to pair the beers with the spiciest of foods -

Here are my choices for your dinner -

Grilled Garden Sushi Rolls (cucumber, asparagus, avocado, etc.) -

WINE CHOICES - Prosecco, Muscadet or Chablis - BEER CHOICES - Pilsner or a crisp light Pale Ale

First Course - Miso Soup

WINE CHOICES - A creamier white, Oregon Pinot Gris - BEER CHOICES - Red Ale/India Pale Ale

Main Course - Flank Steak (marinated somehow, but haven't determined yet), scallops, and a salad w/ginger dressing

WINE CHOICES - Cali Cab - Right Bank Bordeaux - BEER CHOICES - Stout, Stout or a Stout


Dessert - Ginger/Pear Cake

WINE CHOICES - Sauternes or Late Harvest Riesling - BEER CHOICES - Belgian Wit Ale or if you want heavier - a Barley Wine -