What was your most extreme food and beer pairing?

[Christina Perozzi - The Beer Chick]

As a beer sommelier in a restaurant, I love pairing beer with food. And as the holiday season is just around the corner ( I know its only September but there's allocation to think about!!!) I'd like to do some kick ass - off the wall but delicious pairings! I'd love to hear what some of your favorites have been!

[the beer wench]

I ran a beer tasting once where we paired IPAs with cheese (not unique) ... and BELGIANS with CUPCAKES!!! = AWESOME

The most unique pairing was the Tommyknocker Maple Nut Brown Ale & Cheddar Cheese Cupcake w/ Bacon Cream Cheese Frosting -- paired with Brasserie Du Rocs Grand Cru.

Full details here: http://drinkwiththewench.com/2008/06/01/wench-surly-girl-beer-tasting/

[Alexandre Enkerli]

Not so extreme but it seems to surprise people. My favourite pairing is Southern style BBQ with Cantillon Grand Cru. Was getting this at Redbones in Somerville, MA. Last night, the Brett-fermented Saison at Benelux reminded me of this pairing. That beer would go so well with BBQ!
Ok, I'm getting hungry now.

[Virgil G]

I once had a Reuben sandwich at Harrison's up by Chicago, that when I took a sip of their raspberry wheat, it almost took my breath away and I about spit out the bite of my sandwich. The taste was so unexpectedly outstanding, I was like "Oh my god that was awesome."

I love Reubens but with the addition of the right beer, it really was a flavor explosion.

My sister didn't like the raspberry wheat beer by itself, but with the sandwich, she liked the beer.

(They also have some peanut butter buffalo wings that are apparently really good)

[KegGremlin]

Has anyone else ever tried a Flanders red like Duchesse De Bourgogne with Chinese food? It seems to go great with sweet and sour.

[Rob DeNunzio]

I'm beating a dead horse here, but last month we did a session pairing American wild ales with various seasonal goodies (here's the menu). Of all the pairings, the one that stood out for me was the Ommegeddon with the apples. Each element was like a little megaphone, amplifying different aspects of the beer and the food - the apple's sourness with the Brett bite, the bitter edge of the cheese with the hops, the earthy farmhouse funk of the truffle, all playing off each other. Pretty great.

[Shawn, the Beer Philosopher]

Rob DeNunzio said:

I'm beating a dead horse here, but last month we did a session pairing American wild ales with various seasonal goodies (here's the menu). Of all the pairings, the one that stood out for me was the Ommegeddon with the apples. Each element was like a little megaphone, amplifying different aspects of the beer and the food - the apple's sourness with the Brett bite, the bitter edge of the cheese with the hops, the earthy farmhouse funk of the truffle, all playing off each other. Pretty great.

I've got a bottle of Ommegeddon squirreled away in the cellar - batch #1 from June of '07. I've been waiting for the brett to thoroughly do it's thing and, of course, for the right occasion to loose the cage and pop the cork. I think you might have inspired me once again, Rob. I'll have to read it once again and try to recreate your apple-ale experience!

[Chipper Dave]

I'll let the following picture describe my most extreme beer pairings... It was delicious!

[Alexandre Enkerli]

KegGremlin said:

Has anyone else ever tried a Flanders red like Duchesse De Bourgogne with Chinese food? It seems to go great with sweet and sour.

Has a Duchesse tonight but we didn't eat anything at that point. Someone did mention spring rolls and I got to think that Duchesse would go well with Vietnamese food.
But, then, it would probably pair well with white fish served with herbed butter. Or with steak.
It was very good by itself. ;-)

[Reuben]

This isn't that special, but last year, on my way to Dubai, I had a layover in Amsterdam and some friends and we conned our way into one of the executive lounges at Schiphol. It was dawn when we landed, so there were breakfast foods laid out for the travelers. But, of course, there was Heineken on tap right next to the orange juice and coffee.

I paired my English muffin and fruit salad with a Heineken and it was surprisingly great. I got some odd looks from my friends, but, hey, we were in Amsterdam

[Christina Perozzi - The Beer Chick]

Reuben said:

I paired my English muffin and fruit salad with a Heineken and it was surprisingly great. I got some odd looks from my friends, but, hey, we were in Amsterdam

Ha! My late Grandpa Perozzi used to drink a little half glass of Miller Genuine Draft every morning with his fried eggs, toast and bitter greens! That's awesome.

[Ray Grace]

I think the favorite pairing I had was some grilled planked salmon with Alaskan Smoked Porter,wow did that taste great. Also, my wife and I tried the beer/cheese sampler at Cambridge Brewing company and she really enjoyed the IPA with an artisinal white cheddar despite the fact that she doesn't typically like IPAs. Something in the cheese helped cut the bitterness for her.

[Rob DeNunzio]

Sean Paxton just sent out a wrap-up of his last beer dinner, and I think if you're looking for a single word to describe it, "extreme" might just be it. Check it out.

I wasn't there, but given how easy it is to get all these beers and how simple the food looks, I'll likely whip up my own version of it after work tonight.