It’s a familiar image: a stormy evening in a small peasant town, men and women at a long wooden table, mugs of pilsner sloshing in their dirt-darkened hands. It could be a recent night, or one from a thousand years ago. Indeed, beer has been around seemingly forever. But micro-craft-beer brewing is a current trend that’s taken root, especially (and thankfully) in Northwest cities like Portland and Seattle.
“I have always tried to make people think about beer in different ways,” says Portland chef-turned-master brewer Alan Sprints, who will co-host a seven-course dinner May 13 at the Burgundian in Tangletown for Seattle Beer Week. Courses will include, among other dishes, foie gras, sea scallops, and elk shank—all prepared by Burgundian chef Jeff Davidson—paired with Sprints’ Hair of the Dog beers, from a barrel-aged strong ale to a double IPA.
“People have been enjoying beer and food for thousands of years,” he says. “It is instinctual, almost familiar to all of us.” Sprints, who started as a chef in fine dining and catering but transitioned to brewing in 1992 at Widmer Brewing Company, is now known particularly for his strong ales. “They have more flavor and go well with food,” he says. “They were also very unique when I started brewing, and I like being different.”
Hair of the Dog’s Fred beer, for example, one of their strong ales (10 percent alcohol by volume), was created to honor beer writer Fred Eckhardt, a well-known Portland-based beer advocate and historian as well as a brewing mentor to Sprints. It is made with rye malts and 10 different hop varieties, and will be paired with Davidson’s duck breast. Their Adam beer is another strong ale (10 percent a.b.v.), and is the first beer Hair of the Dog created. It will be paired with elk shank.
It may seem simple to pair food and beer—maybe even a little foolish to call it an art form. Somehow the reputation of wine—its European origin, its accented foreign names—elicits more of a sense of the refined and cultured. But Sprints knows pairing beer with a meal can be just as unique and worthwhile—in part because he used to be a full-time chef himself.
“In general, beer pairs well with food because of its mild acidity and range of sweet and bitter flavors,” he says. And it’s usually cheaper than high-end wine: “Beer is also an affordable luxury—it is very easy to try different beers and learn the flavor options.”
Sprints founded Hair of the Dog in 1993, and made his first beer in 1994. He hasn’t forgone cooking altogether; he remains chef for the brewery’s tasting room. In the beginning, his love of food led him to hope he could make a living cooking, but “it’s hard to have a family and work nights and weekends,” he says. Though he has a more regular workday now, Sprints continues to collaborate with chefs like Davidson “to increase their knowledge about beer and food pairing.”
Davidson, who recently traveled to Hair of the Dog to taste Sprints’ concoctions and decide on the proper flavor progressions for the Burgundian dinner, says Sprints is a “bold” presenter of food and drink. “He uses smoky and spiced flavors, and he’s not afraid to push the limits,” says Davidson. “These kinds of dinners are what being a chef is all about.”
This isn’t the first sophisticated food-and-beer event Sprints has been a part of. He recently partnered with Portland’s James Beard Award-winning Le Pigeon for an elaborate evening. “It was a thrill to be able to work with chef Gabriel Rucker and his staff to present my beers with his food,” says Sprints. “Brewing and cooking are similar in many ways, and I have always loved making things. Brewing, though, has less pressure and stress than cooking, but now I get to do both.”
On May 13 he’ll get another chance to show off his knowledge of food and drink, working with longtime friend and Burgundian owner Matt Vandenberg, no slouch himself when it comes to beer: He’s the CEO of Brouwer’s, which boasts 64 beers on tap and over 300 bottles in house. “I look forward to spending time with Matt whenever I can,” says Sprints. “And a dinner is a great way for me to tell my story about the beers and the brewery.”
Sprints will feature only Hair of the Dog beers—but not, he says, because local beers are inferior. “I have not had a bad Seattle beer, ever,” he says. “I have a lot of respect for Washington brewers, from the old guard to the new wave—and I may just have some in my belly that night anyway.” E
food@seattleweekly.com
Hair of the Dog Beer Dinner Burgundian, 2253 N. 56th St., 420-8943, burgundianbar.com. $150. 6 p.m. Wed., May 13.
