A Year in Food and Beer

July 22, 2013
Overwrought and overwritten, Emily Baime and Darin Michaels's collection of seasonal beer-friendly recipes is a text heavy cookbook developed with no clear readership in mind. It starts off strong as Baime and Michaels open with a useful rundown of beer styles, adequately informing amateur beer enthusiasts and everyday cooks alike of the various qualities of porters, pilsners and lambics. Then it's off to the races as the duo offers recipes for each season paired with appropriate beers. Of the forty recipes offered, virtually all of them are accompanied by meticulously detailed instructions that turn a basic dish into an epic undertaking. A pickle recipe spans four pages; peel and eat shrimp takes up two. There are some interesting dishes featured such as Pumpkin Seed Brittle and DIY pretzels served with a smoked Gouda sauce, though some readers may have a rough time sourcing black valentine beans for a chili, or rosewater for a pavlova. While the concept for this cookbook is appealing and the authors' knowledge of beer is impressive, the overall execution is a mess.

June 1, 2013
As the nation's craft breweries proliferate and home beer making becomes even more popular than it was in the days of Prohibition, consumers are becoming ever more sophisticated. No longer do Americans drink industrially produced lagers with their meals; they demand brews especially designed to complement gourmet dinners. Baime and Michaels follow the seasons to offer beers specifically paired to recipes. They compare beers' variations in taste and aroma to the complexity of chords in the notes of a symphony and encourage readers to explore widely. Fruity apricot ale softens the heat of spicy peel-and-eat shrimp. Very ambitious cooks may feel compelled to churn up some of the authors' homemade butter to drench summer lobster. To harmonize with this shellfish's richness, they suggest the spicy notes of chili beer. Recipes assume some expertise on the part of anyone wanting to replicate these dishes at home.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)