MarPac showcases 5 beer kinds in food pairing event

Call me a philistine but I’ve always thought that beer was a beverage that you swill beachside on lazy Sunday afternoons while searing pieces of meat on a bed of burning coals. That it doesn’t require much science or frills to enjoy a cold glass of lager. Of course that’s also true but I learned Monday last week that there’s more to beer than meets the eye—or in this case, the palate. Much like wine, I learned that beer is best enjoyed when paired with carefully selected food, that each brand of beer has its own character, and that beer is best served on a glass, with a frothy head of foam to prevent bloat.

MarPac, the distributor of Anheuser-Busch beers in the CNMI, hosted Monday at Coral Ocean Point’s elegant Double Eagle Restaurant the “Meet the Brew Master,” a beer-and-food pairing event that featured the expertise of George F. Reisch, a fifth generation brewmaster who is also the director of Brewmaster Outreach for Anheuser-Busch.

The occasion, attended by many of Saipan’s crème de la crème, featured five food stations, each one paired with five, free-flowing Anheuser-Busch products: Budweiser, Budlight Platinum, Landshark, Michelob Amberbock, Budlight Lime-a-rita, and Budlight Straw-ber-rita. The extensive array of food, courtesy of COP executive chef Eduardo Olarte and his team, highlighted the subtleties and complexities of each beer brand, giving lie to the notion that beer is just beer.

Olarte told Saipan Tribune that he came up with the menu suggestions and he and his team collaborated with the MarPac team to ensure the perfect fit for each beer that would be featured at the event. What was amazing was that the food being paired with the beers were not just appetizers and main entrees but also dessert, fruits, strudels, eggplant caviar, spring rolls, and a whole lot more that you’d never thought would go well with lager.

MarPac resident manager Guy Pudney said that Monday’s event was part of the celebration of the 65th anniversary of Ambros Inc., which is MarPac’s Guam branch. That also explains the reason for Reisch presence in Micronesia. He said that after Saipan, Reisch will be going to Palau, where the company is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

“We’re very excited [to celebrate our 65th year], we’re very blessed, we can only thank our very loyal customers out there and we’re hoping that we’ll be around for many, many more years,” said Pudney.

This is the second time for MarPac to host the “Meet the Brew Master” event. The first one was held last year at the Hyatt Regency Saipan. This year’s event also featured the relaxing melodies of the Marianas Project Band.

MarPac would like give thanks to Coral Ocean Golf Resort, Triple J, and Angus Beef for sponsoring the event. We’d also like to recognize Coral Ocean Point’s staff, most especially Chef Ed, for their tremendous service and delicious food pairing ideas.

Five rules to live by when drinking beer
George F. Reisch, a Brewmaster at Anheuser-Busch Inc., talked about the importance of drinking beer from a glass at the “Meet the Brew Master” event at Coral Ocean Point. In a later interview, I asked him of five rules that any amateur drinker should know about when drinking beer. Here is his rundown:
1. “In the history of mankind, drinking beer and wine helped us to survive up to this point because pathogens cannot grow in beer and wine. So if you are in an area where you’re worried about the water, drink beer.”
2. “Always use a glass when drinking beer because beer was designed to be served in a glass. It wasn’t until bottles and cans that people started drinking directly out of the bottle and they’re not supposed to do that.”
3. “Beer physically makes you hungry. So it’s a great way for some people, if they don’t have an appetite or for a lot of older people, by just sipping three ounces of beer their stomach will start to growl and they’ll want to have food. It’s very important to eat, so beer is a natural fit with food because it physically makes you hungry.”
4. “People need to have the whole beer experience. It’s not just drinking beer. The beer experience includes what’s the story of the beer, where is it from, how is it brewed, what ingredients does it use, tell me something about it.”
5. “A beer’s clothing is the glass. The glass shape is vitally important because it makes you appreciate what that beer wants you to appreciate. For instance, Michelob Amberbock is meant to be in a wider glass because you want it to look rich and smooth. If you put it in a champagne flute, it looks very light and looks like a totally different beer.”