This pairing suggestion comes from review I read about 3 Stars Brewing in the Washington Post.  

Pairing Suggestion: Cupcakes

Try pairing this this beer with vanilla cupcakes or cupcakes with vanilla frosting.  The sweet caramel-like malt flavors will resonate with cupcake sweetness while the vanilla flavoring will add a bit of complexity to the pairing creating another dessert altogether!  

The crew at 3 Stars Brewing Company has some other suggestions for you as well: "This smooth and complex ale can be paired with a multitude of dishes. Start a meal by pairing it with big funky chesses, serve with a main dish of roasted meat or a rustic casserole, or finish the meal by pairing it with complimentary pecan pie, or a contrasting salted caramel or sweet fruit pie."

This week I am starting a new pairing series in collaboration with the website They Draw and Cook (TDAC).  TDAC is a truly inspiring website with hundreds if not thousands of illustrated recipes by artists from around the world.  As you can imagine each recipe’s style and content is as unique as the artist who illustrated it.  TDAC is a “veritable who’s who” of artistic styles and recipes as you will find painted, collaged, drawn, and digital renditions of scrumptious salads, mouthwatering main dishes, decadent desserts and so much more!

For this series, I have picked five recipes from a compilation book of recipes TDAC had published last year but you can also find them on TDAC.com.  I have picked one breakfast-y recipe, one salad, one appetizer, one main dish and one dessert AND paired each recipe with one and sometimes two different beers!  So if you have missed one (or more) of the recipes just scroll down or click “TDAC” in the categories on the right hand side of the screen.

Visit Eliza's blog here: http://elizasbirdhaus.blogspot.com/

I chose this recipe because people don't always think about pairing beer with breakfast foods.  Weird, yeah?! Well ... it turns out beer does pair well with many breakfast foods, especially baked ones like this quiche, but I'll get to that in a moment. The reason beer goes so well with breakfast foods is that they are generally full of cereal grains (flower, oats, etc) and beer is full of one and sometimes two cereal grains: barley and/or wheat.

Mission St.Brown Ale (from Trader Joe's) is a great pairing with this recipe for several reasons. To begin with, the pie crust sweetness and sweet caramel-like malt flavors in the beer create a sweet base layer that ties all the other flavors together. Next, the baked/browned crust resonates with the darker roasted grains in the beer. These toasted/baked flavors of the crust and malt add a depth to the sweeter base layer and strengthen the tie between the beer and quiche.  The caramel-like malt flavors resonate with the subtle sweetness in the cheese strengthening the tie between the beer and quiche even more. Then there is the play between the beer's toasted nutty aroma and flavors and the nutty flavor in the gruyere. Both are fairly subtle but together they resonate and create a more noticeable nutty flavor.  Last but certainly not least, the hop flavor/bitterness, alcohol and carbonation refresh your palate and clear the way for your next bite.

If you can't find this particular beer here are some good substitutes: Big Sky's Moose Drool, North Coast Acme Brown, Lost Coast Downtown Brown.

1. If you liked this pairing or love this recipe let the artist know and spread the love around. The artist and I would appreciate the extra publicity!

2. You can and should order this fabulous cookbook on TDAC.com.

3. These illustrations are copyrighted.  You may not use them for any commercial reason without express written consent from the artist.  You may, however, print them for your own use.  Click the recipe which will take you to TDAC and from there you can download a high resolution copy or print a copy of this recipe.  

Style: American Brown
Serving: Pint Glass or Mug @ 45°- 50° 

Aroma: Hints of sweet chocolate, caramel with toasted nuts are typical of this style.  Some American browns have pronounced hop aromas especially if they are dry hopped.
Appearance: Pours clear brown to dark brown with a light tan head.
Flavor:  Pronounced sweet malty flavors reminiscent of caramel and chocolate are balanced by elevated hop flavors and bitterness.
Mouthfeel:  Medium-full body that finish fairly dry due to the hops and elevated carbonation levels.

Other Examples: If you cant'f find this particular beer, I suggest you start with Indian Brown Ale from Dogfish Head, Bender from Surly Brewing Co or Moose Drool Brown Ale from Big Sky Brewing Co.

Food Pairings: Cuisine: Barbecue. Cheese: Earthy, Nutty. Meat: beef. Dessert: Chocolate.

HopHeadSaid: I prefer American brown ales over English brown ales because of the elevated hop profiles. The hop profiles help balance the toasted caramely/chocolate sweetness keeping the beer refreshing without limiting the beer’s pairing ability. The assertive hop intensity means the malt flavors have to be increased making it a great pairing beer for grilled foods, assertive cheeses and chocolate desserts.