Winophilia

Many sommeliers enjoy unwinding with a beer after a full workday spent talking about wine with clients, matching wines to dishes, tasting wine, drinking wine….wine, wine, wine. Can you tell us your favorite beer these days, and what you like about it? Don’t feel that it needs to be a high-falutin’ beer either; if your favorite place serves cold Schlitz on tap and that’s what you gravitate toward, then say so.  And don’t hesitate to provide some very brief background info on your selection or a short tasting note. 

Belinda Chang, Wine Director, The Modern (New York City). Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, my two favorite books were from Jay McInerney’s pre-wine writer days: Bright Lights, Big City and Story of My Life. I dreamed of living the fast life in New York City and demanding that all potential boyfriends stock their refrigerators with Amstel Light and Cristal for me like the character in the later book.

I don’t know how fast my life is, but now I live in New York City and right now there are a few bottles of Amstel Light and a bottle of Cristal (a gift) in my fridge. This horrifies my roommate (John Winterman, who is the maitre d’ at Restaurant Daniel). His side of the fridge is stocked with Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, which according to the beer meister Michael Jackson is “the Chateau Latour of beers.” I sometimes sneak one of those.

Cyril Fréchier, Director of Wine and Spirits, Campagne Restaurant and Café Campagne (Seattle). The Pacific Northwest rocks with fine breweries (Washington State is the second largest producer of hops in the world): no shortage of delicious, thirst-quenching brewskies around here. My current favorite is Fremont Brewing Company’s Latona Lager. Clean, fragrant honey-caramel, dried orange peel, licorice-root powder nose. Creamy texture, sweet malt, hop spice, bitter anis, honey finish: the perfect pick-me-up after a long day.

Fremont Brewing Co. is a family-owned, Seattle-born and -based organic microbrewery (organic hops come from Gambrinus Malting in British Columbia and locally grown hops from Puterbaugh Farms in the Yakima Valley; water is sourced from the Cedar River in the Cascade Mountains). A down-to-earth company, putting sustainability and quality before anything else—“because beer matters,” as they so aptly put it.

Jesse Rodriguez, Director of Wine, The Grand Del Mar (San Diego). It’s not glamorous but when I do drink a nice cold brew it’s Natty Ice. Reminds me of the carefree days of college at ASU. 

When I’m with my family we drink Anheuser Bush products. My brother works for the King and always shares his personal allocations so I can’t be snobbish and turn down my family’s gifts.

One last thing as it relates to beer and myself. Now that I’ve indulged you with my trashy love of Natty Ice and Budweiser, I have to say that I have been deeply impressed with, and a strong advocate of, Stone Brewery, located here in Escondido within San Diego County. This brewery has been making some great brews for 14 years and my personal favorite of the 8 year-round releases that they offer is the Stone Brewery Pale Ale. Nice and refreshing after a long service, two of these and good night!

Laura Maniec, M.S., Director of Wine and Spirits, B. R. Guest Restaurants (New York City).  Keeping my response simple, like my beer choice: For me there is nothing better than a tallboy of Tecate. Drink half on its own and pour the remaining half over ice with tons of fresh lime and some tabasco and serve with a salted rim. I love Micheladas. 

Steven Grubbs, Wine Director, Five and Ten Restaurant (Athens, GA). It may just be my beach-lust talking, but I gotta go with good old classic Budweiser, cold as physically possible. If it’s in a can, I’m on some salty Florida restaurant deck with a dozen oysters in front of me. If it’s coming from a draft I’m on the Carolina coast, staring down a basket of fried clams.

Michael Madrigale, Wine Director, Bar Boulud (New York City). My favorite beer at the moment, which I love to have after a long shift on the floor, is Jever Pilsner from northern Germany. It has a dry, bitter and somewhat herbal flavor that after tasting wines all night gives my palate a refreshing wake-up. It’s best from draft, naturally, and I get at a fantastic German pub in the East Village named Zum Schneider, usually accompanied with a schnitzel the size of my head.

Paul Einbund, Frances Restaurant (San Francisco). It is true that living the life of a sommelier allows for plenty of wine consumption. It is also true that sometimes it’s nice to give all that a break and journey into cocktails and beer. I’ve only been a beer consumer for the past five years now. Most of my favorite beers are from Belgium, though an amazing Porter from Sweden called Pripp’s Carnegie (actually a vintage-dated beer!) is certainly on my short list.

And after a long day of work and wine consumption, nothing fills the niche as well as Echigo Koshihikari. Echigo is a pilsner-style beer brewed in Niigata, Japan, made with a small amount of rice added to the mixture. Crisp, clean and immensely refreshing!  I found this beer at my old standby sushi place in Los Angeles called . . . Echigo (no relation). Because of my love for an end-of-shift Echigo (the beer), you can always find it where I am working!

Sara Kavanaugh, Director, The Grill Room, Windsor Court Hotel (New Orleans). I am really digging on NOLA Hopitoulas. It’s an India Pale Ale that is made locally. It is super hoppy but really well balanced. It has six different kinds of hops and six different malts and is also dry-hopped for three weeks. Because it is local you can find it pretty much anywhere around town. My favorite spot, though, is d.b.a. on Frenchman Street:  they have a massive beer selection with fantastic live music every night. It is the perfect place to unwind after a long day of drinking wine.