From banh mi to cheesecake, these are the best meal-in-a-glass craft beers you need to try

Brewers have been putting foodstuffs into their beers for centuries — here’s how you can have a liquid three-course meal.

Australian drinkers have long embraced the liquid lunch and the theory that there’s a steak in every beer – but adventurous brewers are now taking the meal in a glass to the next level.

As beer enthusiasts around the country have developed more sophisticated palates and a thirst for new and interesting tipples, craft breweries have been more than happy to oblige.

From entree to main to dessert-inspired beers, there’s truly something for all tastes: you could start with a Taco Beer from Melbourne outfit Two Birds, move on to the Marrickville Lamb Souvlaki Ale that Sydney’s Willie the Boatman brewed for last year’s GABS festival, and cap it off with the Strawberries and Cream Sour Ale that was placed No. 39 in this year’s GABS hottest 100 for Revel Brewing Co in Brisbane.

Miro Bellini, brand manager at Melbourne’s Moon Dog Craft Brewery, says there is a long and rich tradition of not just pairing beer with food, but using food to make beer.

He says beer is a “more culinary beverage” than whiskey or wine because it’s about “recipes and regions”, which is why “there are great French restaurants in Tokyo and why you can make great German beers in Melbourne”.

Miro Bellini and Bianca Humphries from Moon Dog Brewery.

“There is a lot of history,” Bellini says.

“English brewers put milk solids into their beer, German brewers would smoke their grain, Belgian brewers would put fruit in there and French brewers would put spice in.”

Moon Dog has certainly embraced the culinary tradition with food-inspired creations including the Banh Mi, Banh Mi, Say That You Love Me Cucumber, Chilli and Coriander Gose; the Timothy Tamothy Chocolate Biscuit Milk Stout; and In The Crumble, The Mighty Crumble Blackberry Crumble Dessert Sour Ale.

Moon Dog head of production Kevin Tewierik says ideas for their more unusual creations usually come from “a bunch of people who work here sitting around in a room shooting the s--t”.

The process can involve a fair bit of experimentation and trial and error, and will be brewed in smaller batches starting at just 50 litres to see how the food ingredients react when introduced to the beer-making process.

“That helps us weed out a lot of the problems that you might get from an ingredient that you’re not familiar with,” says Tewierik.

“Sometimes it’s hard to predict what that is – it might throw a haze, it might not react well with other ingredients or it might just taste weird after it’s fermented.”

Moon Dog Banh Mi, Banh Mi Say That You Banh Mi.

Bellini says Moon Dog approaches the food-inspired beers in different ways.

Sometimes they choose different ingredients, such as variety of grains, to recreate the experience of a food – like a Tim Tam or a Pine Lime Splice – and for others they will use the actual ingredients, such as the chilli, coriander and cucumber that goes into the banh mi beer.

Regardless of the method though, says Tewierik, it’s imperative that the beer does what it says on the tin.

“Absolutely,” he says.

“It needs to. You are making a claim on that can, about what your drinkers are going to experience and we have tipped beers down the drain for not doing that well enough, even if it’s a good beer.”

BON APPETIT!

Michael Taberner from Craft Cartel picks four food-inspired beers that do exactly what they say on the tin …

Mash Brewing – Donut Beer Pastry NEIPA

DONUT BEER PASTRY NEIPA MASH BREWING

A brewer will always get my attention when they say their beer tastes just like a tropical glazed doughnut. It’s easy to see why it does, as this Pastry NEIPA has been brewed from more than 2000 unsold doughnuts of the sprinkled, glazed and cookie variety. This partnership with Donut Waste are raising funds for OzHarvest WA with 50c from each beer sold being donated to provide meals to people in need.

All Day Breakfast Coffee – Stout Stockade Brew Co.

ALL DAY BREAKFAST COFFEE STOUT STOCKADE BREWING CO.

Breakfast doesn’t always need to be fancy. Sometimes a really good cup of coffee is all you need to get you going. With its roasted coffee and oatmeal aromas, this stout reminds us of drinking a coffee in the winter sun on a late Sunday morning with no plans for the rest of the day.

Bridge Road Brewers – Fruit Salad Sour

FRUIT SALAD SOUR BRIDGE ROAD BREWERS

A truckload of mango, passionfruit and pineapples went into the making of this delicious fruited-sour. In the style of a traditional German Gose, this is a crisper and more refreshing version of your morning breakfast smoothie. At 4.3 per cent, this a perfect accompaniment to a decadent and rich brunch with friends.

WE LOVE NY CHEESECAKE MISMATCH BREWING CO

An Imperial White Stout sitting at 9 per cent ABV, this is as BIG as the Big Apple. Mismatch Brewing Co were determined to understand if they could make this, and nobody asked if they should – which is totally fine in this case! With a cookie crust taste, familiar tartness and decadent gluttonous richness, it’s a slice of cheesecake in a glass. Available first at the GABS festivals in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney across May.

Visit smartcraftbeer.com.au to join the SMART Craft Beer Club and access the following offers.

Offer 1: 2 x tickets to GABS plus 2x GABS 2021 Hottest 100 Mixed Packs for $199 (RRP $280)

Offer 2: The Beer Footy & Food Festival Mixed Pack for $45.95

(RRP $65)

Offer 3: GABS 2021 Hottest 100 Mixed Pack for $89 (RRP $110)

Originally published as From banh mi to cheesecake, these are the best meal-in-a-glass craft beers you need to try