No longer confined to the 10th hole, beer is becoming a bigger beverage offer though all parts of the club property.
Once relegated to second-class status as the working man’s beverage, beer is now a connoisseur’s drink, too. But true to their roots, even the finest beers remain an affordable luxury— and that’s a big part of what’s making ales and lagers so appealing in club and resort settings.
“The vast majority of good beers are relatively inexpensive, and for most people there’s no economic barrier to enjoying the best ones out there,” notes Garrett Oliver, author of The Brewmaster’s Table and renowned beer authority. And unlike comparable wines, Oliver adds, high-end beers can be a more acceptable indulgence pretty much anytime—even on a Tuesday night.
With America proving to be the epicenter of variety—”It’s easy [in any U.S. region] to find great beers from around the world, along with craft beers made [locally],” Oliver notes—clubs and resorts are successfully tapping into growing interest in higher-quality, bolder-flavored, and artisan-brewed beers that can help to distinguish their menus and give members and guests another reason to view their properties as special destinations.
SUMMING IT UP
• Clubs and resorts are successfully tapping into growing interest in higher-quality, bolder-flavored, and artisan- brewed beers. • Food and beer pairings are generating new interest for members and more revenue for operators. • Chefs are using beer to punch up the flavor of marinades, poaching liquid, stews, and salad dressings. |
A Taste of Home
Featuring locally sourced ingredients on the menu has become a priority for Eric Gabrynowicz, Executive Chef at Highlands Country Club in Garrison, N.Y. The club even has its own four-acre farm. So it’s only natural that Gabrynowicz would apply the same philosophy when integrating beer into the menus for the club’s Tavern restaurant.
“I put together an all-New York beer list for the Tavern,” he says. “It’s an opportunity to do something different from everybody else.” In addition, the regional focus makes it easier for him to select what to offer his guests by narrowing down the options (see menu at right).
“Guests love it and are enthusiastic about trying new things,” Gabrynowicz reports. “Right now, our biggest seller is also our most expensive—a 25-oz. Trippel Ale from Captain Lawrence Brewing Company.” And for those who might be less willing to try something different, the Highlands pro shop also stocks more familiar brands that can be brought to the Tavern on demand.
Gabrynowicz kicked off the new regionally focused list with a near-sellout beer dinner last winter, and he has more planned for the rest of this year. Each dinner will spotlight a particular label and Oliver (who is also brewmaster at the Brooklyn Brewery) will speak at one of them.
Sweet Surprises
This past March, an Ohio beermaker took center stage at the Great Lakes Brewing Beer and Food Pairing Celebration, held at Chenoweth Country Club in Akron. Wine tastings were regular and popular events at the Akron spot, so Chef Donna Berns decided to try something similar with the beverage that Ben Franklin proclaimed was “proof that the Almighty loved mankind.”
“It showed off what I can do, and promoted our banquet facility,” Berns says of the event. She crafted a five-course menu: potato soup, sesame-crusted mahi-mahi, spicy garlic Buffalo-style chicken, BBQ-glazed pork, and a chocolate peanut brownie. “People were surprised at how well the beers complimented the food, especially the dark bitter stout with that sweet rich dessert,” she reports.
Regular Affairs for Regular People
Food and beer pairings are now regular (every Tuesday night) and consistently well-attended events at Massanutten Resort in McGaheysville, Va. Paul Hansen, the resort’s “beer sommelier” who collaborates with Executive Chef Michael Ritenour on special menus, traces the positive reception to beer’s approachable reputation. “You never hear anyone described as a ‘beer snob’,” Hansen notes.
“Southwestern, Cajun, and other spicy cuisines lend themselves to pairing with beer,” Ritenour adds. “I’ll even do a pizza, but not an ordinary one. Recently I used wild boar sausage and fontina cheese.” And while the meals are often planned first, Chef Ritenour has also come up with dishes that can compliment particular pilsners or porters that Hansen wants to feature. Salads are the most challenging, he reports.
“I might use a sweeter beer with a berry note,” says the chef, “to echo a flavor or go with something dry and hoppy that contrasts with a sweeter dressing.” At every dinner, the chef comes out to talk about each course, and Hansen gives a mini-class in the beverage’s history to define its characteristics and give tips on how to best appreciate it.
To select the week’s beers, Hansen turns to a notebook where he records everything he’s tried, information on what’s available through his regular suppliers, and prices. “I take cost into consideration, mixing expensive and less-expensive bottles, so these events have as good a profit margin as our restaurants,” he says. Currently, the beer dinners are priced at $49.95 per person, plus tax and gratuities.
On Monday evenings, guests can preview some of the dinner beers at a tasting event, along with others available throughout the resort. Two-ounce pours are 50 cents each. “It’s education and entertainment, rolled into one,” says Hansen. “People find something they enjoy, and then order it in one of our lounges or dining rooms.”
All in Good Taste
Sapona Country Club in Lexington, N.C., began having annual beer tastings three years ago. “Our membership doesn’t include many big wine or spirit drinkers,” says General Manager Chris Minkel. “Beer was our top seller, so we built on that, scheduling [the tastings] in the winter, when we need fun activities to bring people in. And they bring their friends.”
The interactive event asks participants to grade the 20 or so brews they can sample as they cruise the club’s ballroom. The results, Minkel says, are then e-mailed to members, so even those who don’t attend get involved. The top three vote-getters are added to the clubhouse menu.
For the tastings, a buffet supper of beer-friendly eats, such as BBQ ribs, chicken-fried steak, and sausages with peppers and onions, is included in the $16.95-per person price. Many of the microbrews are donated by companies eager to promote their brands, Minkel reports.
At Split Rock Resort and Golf Club in Pennsylvania, this November will mark the 17th year for the property’s two-day beer festival, with almost 50 different American-made products made available for sipping. Brewers and distributors are always on hand at the event to talk with guests, two beer experts lead seminars, and an optional Beer and Food Matching Dinner is offered on Saturday night.
The hotel offers an all-inclusive package for the event. “It’s been very good for us,” says the festival’s director, Shelly Lutz. “We usually get 200 to 300 reservations for the dinner.” The resort also offers a second, single-day event in April, highlighting beers from around the world.
Brewing Up a Storm
“It’s like salt,” says Jeffrey Foresman, Executive Chef of the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa in San Antonio, when explaining why he’s such a proponent of cooking with beer. “Beer can take food from flat to full-flavored. But you have to use it judiciously, or it overpowers everything else.” And be extra careful when reducing, he warns, because beer tends to get bitter.
Foresman puts beer in marinades, poaching liquid, stews, and salad dressings He soaks chili beans in beer and adds more as they simmer with diced sirloin. He uses a medium-bodied Bock in a compound butter that tops grilled meats (see recipe, above right), and puts a small amount of a lighter brew in his caramelized garlic mashed potatoes. Even a flourless chocolate torte gets a souffle-like lift from the carbonation in a dark wheat beer, which also improves the texture (see recipe, pg. 33).
“Everybody uses wine in the kitchen,” Foresman notes. “Our servers explain that [using beer] is the chef’s specialty, and our clients like that they’re getting something they won’t find elsewhere.”
There’s a side benefit that lifts back-of-the-house spirits, too. “You have to know a beer’s flavor profile to cook with it,” Foresman smiles. “So I encourage our chefs to do a lot of tasting.”
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