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Brewmaster, partner and the face of the Brooklyn Brewery, author, judge, consultant, Garrett Oliver wears almost as many hats as styles of beer he produces. His brews have won awards the world around and he is regularly invited to judge beer competitions. Columnist for All About Beer magazine, his book, the Brewmaster’s Table, received the 2004 International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) Book Award and was a finalist for the 2004 James Beard Foundation Book Awards.
A founding member of the Slow Foods movement, Oliver is the foremost authority of traditional beer, and beer and food matching. With all this knowledge and these accolades he is incredibly humble making him the most Debonair man in the beer industry.
I spent an afternoon with Garrett walking around the brewery tasting his beers, including the spectacular not-yet-released Local 1. We conducted the interview at Planet Thailand, a quirky, affordable Thai restaurant in Williamsburg with great food, only a few blocks from the brewery.
Debonair: Your book is equally divided between beer and food. Do you think that beer has the same food pairing potential as wine?
Garrett Oliver: Even better. What kind of wine can go with Indian, Thai, Mexican or any spicy food? Maybe something with a little sweetness but beer is a natural pairing for these foods and everything else wine can pair with. The huge range of beer styles and those tiny bubbles means that beer is the most versatile drink for food.
Deb: Do you drink wine?
GO: I love wine. Especially the reds from Piedmont, Italy and Burgundy, France.
Deb: Is there any food that just doesn’t pair well with beer?
GO: Plain spaghetti with a simple marinara sauce is just so acidic I don’t think it pairs with anything.
Deb: What is the most surprising beer and food paring you found?
GO: I was doing a tasting and through a miscommunication I brought our chocolate stout and the host brought Stilton cheese. It was great. The bubble cut through the fat and the chocolate notes in the cheese were complimented by those in the wine.
Deb: I’ve enjoyed the whole line of Brooklyn Brewery for some time now but you haven’t released a new product in some time. Is there anything new you’re working on?
GO: In January we are releasing Local 1, a very complex bottle-fermented beer that is in some ways based on the Belgian Abbey-Style Ales. You might have tried it when it was poured at Friday nights at the brewery under the name fortitude. Unfortunately we couldn’t keep the name because some winery in California has it. It will cost about $10 for a Champagne-style 750 ml bottle.
Deb: How have things changed in the states since you started brewing? Do you think this is for better or worse?
GO: Things have changed very much for the better. The public is more educated about beer and about food. When I started brewing, there were perhaps 150 – 200 breweries in the country; now there are 1700. It’s a completely different scene, and it’s great.
Deb: I know you're into traditional beers, are there some lost beers that should remain that way?
GO: A few years ago, someone revived the eastern German beer style called Leipziger Gose. It’s a wheat beer, not dissimilar to traditional Belgian lambic beers – but the recipe includes salt. Enough salt to taste. Not a favorite in my book.
Deb: What should be revived?
GO: That’s hard to say, but it’s American brewers who are doing most of the reviving. This is now the most exciting place in the world to drink beer. That said, there’s an old Danish style called Skibsøl – “ship’s beer?, that I’d some day like to try brewing. It’s smoked and only about 3% ABV.
Deb: Is there a restaurant in New York you think does a particularly good job at pairing food and beer?
GO: Gramercy Tavern does a terrific job, and of course their food is among the best in the city.
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