Today's Question Blog

What pairs better with food, beer or wine?

beerfood
Steel Toe Size 7 IPA with carrot cake. Jennifer Simonson/MPR News

Michael Agnew, cicerone and writer makes the case for beer:

"Beer goes better with food than wine. Wine has an ingredient: You've got grapes. This is a simplification, I know, but you've got fruit juice. So you're putting a fruit sauce with everything. With beer, you've got four different ingredients. Each one of those has a myriad of different varieties, and the brewer can put those together in a whole bunch of different ways. So the flavor palate is huge."

"And then, some of the same chemical reactions that happen when you cook, also happen in the malt making and the brewing process. So the flavors are not just similar, they are actually the same flavors of what you find in food."

Wine and cheese
Plates of cheese and cured meat, similar to this one, photographed Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014 at Russell Klein's Meritage in St. Paul will be available at his new Minneapolis restaurant, an Austrian brasserie, which will include a wine bar with a cheese program called Foreign Legion. Jennifer Simonson/MPR News

Chuck Kanski, owner Solo Vino makes the case for wine:

“Wine pairs better with food than beer. The simple fact that beer is an industrial product and that wine by definition is an agricultural product is a good start. Wine belongs on the table. That's where it has been for over 7,000 years. Wine dates back to the Neolithic period, the very dawn of modern civilization."

"Wine is also the only alcohol that is given to us by nature. This fact sets it apart from all other alcohols. The very first wines were produced via carbonic maceration. Grapes have a symbiotic relationship with wild yeast and this is the key. Nothing more is needed for fermentation to begin. Did you know that a single glass of red wine contains over a thousand chemical components? Beat that beer!”

Today's Question: What pairs better with food, beer or wine?

When you answer, please tell us about some of your favorite pairings.