Belgium is well known for its Renaissance architecture, chocolate, fries and its 370 breweries and over 1,600 beers.

This small country of just under 12 million people is divided into thirds with the Dutch-speaking Flanders in the north, French-speaking Wallonia to the south and a small German-speaking community to the east – each with its own beer culture.

In 2020, Belgium had produced around 23.6 million hectoliters (over 607 million gallons). Belgium beers are more unique than any other country’s when it comes to beer. The many styles run the gamut from the mildly tart, effervescent and fruity Lambics, to rich, sweet, malty, high-alcohol strong ales.

With a huge assortment of styles and variations within those styles, such as barrel-aging, aged hops, blended yeast cultures, spontaneous fermentation and kettle souring, it’s a new adventure in beer.

And beer is far more versatile than wine both in cooking and pairing with food because of its larger spectrum of flavors and carbonation. Using the same guidelines as for wine, pairing is simple. One caveat though – avoid high International Bittering Units (IBUs) such as IPAs, just as you would avoid using a tannic red wine. Cooking tends to exaggerate the bitterness.

The different types of acid in a beer will complement, cut or contrast with a dish. Some of the more rounded beers are inoculated with lactobacillus, bacteria that breaks down carbohydrates into lactic acid. Beers with a lactic profile complement a tart goat cheese, for example, because both have similar acid-producing bacteria.

An acidic beverage will cut through a good deal of richness in a dish. This coupled with carbonation makes beer especially good at cleansing the palate after a bite of rich food.

Tannic acid can be found in both wine and beer. These bitter compounds in beer are derived from hops and wood contact play a large role in the general rule that darker, richer foods tend to match best with bigger, more assertive wines.  With beer, this is also the case.

In pairing beers with sweeter foods, you’ll find that a bit of acidity in your beer will help cut through the sweetness of the dish. Just think of chocolate cake with coffee – sweet with an acidic beverage.

Carbonation in beer has the ability to help cut through rich, fatty foods. The simplest example of this may be a Flanders red paired with a plate of Belgian fries, which is traditionally served with mayonnaise.

In keeping with my goal of drinking my cellar, I found three bottles of well-aged larger format beer to cook with and to enjoy with friends at a birthday feast.

For our sumptuous beer dinner, we started with Dick’s Grand Cru Belgian Style Abbey Ale. This one had been in my cellar for about 20 years. But never fear, this was a 3 liter, which sounds and looks like a lot of beer but after doing the math, all eight guests would only get 12 ounces each.

Dick’s Brewing Company began in 1984 in Chehalis with the Dick Danger Pale Ale. As production and distribution grew, so did the styles of beers Dick made. One was a Belgium-style Grand Cru Abbey Ale.

Abbey Ales are produced in the style of the Trappist ales but cannot be called Trappist because they aren’t brewed within the walls of a monastery. There are currently only 11 monasteries in the world that can make Trappist beer. Trappist beers are malty, sweetish, with a spicy, fruity component from the Belgium yeast strains.

I paired this big beer with four small plates. The first small plate was razor clams sautéed with jamón, shallots, parsley, chives and lemon pepper on a bed of saffron rice. The lemon pepper contrasted perfectly with the sweetness in the beer.

Next was a classic Belgium dish of endive and ham gratin. The bitterness of the endive and the creaminess of the cheese sauce paired so well with the rich malty Dick’s Abbey Ale.

The Orange Mustard Chicken wings were up next. Grilled and then smothered in a sauce of orange marmalade, mustard and cayenne and garnished with chopped chives, this citrusy, spicy dish also contrasted beautifully with the ale.

The fourth little plate echoed the orange theme with pickled beets sandwiching a round of fresh mozzarella and dressed with a reduced orange sauce and olive oil and sprinkled with sautéed shallots and fresh chives.

After a few years of homebrewing, Alan Sprints became a professional brewer in 1991. Two years later he opened Hair of the Dog Brewery in Portland. At the time, the brewery created new and unusual beers. Their strong and barrel-aged ales, barleywines and bottle conditioned beers were quite the novelty.

Hair of the Dog was also a pioneer in a number of brewing techniques in America. TIt were the first to specialize in high-alcohol bottle-conditioned ales as well as barrel aging. And the first brewer in the country to use a concrete fermenter. Currently, the brewery has 160 oak barrels both new and used to age beers anywhere from 6 months to 8 years.

The Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws 2001 Strong Ale in magnum was paired with the Flemish Stew with potatoes and carrots. This classic dish is made with two bottles of beer, 3 cups of onions, 3 pounds of beef and red currant jelly. This thick stew is pretty bitter until you add the jelly and then, voila! everything is in balance.

The Hair of the Dog Fred from the Wood was probably from a trip made in the early 2000s. It’s a Barleywine style of beer.  Barleywine is a strong, intense beer. In fact, it's one of the strongest styles of beer. Sweet, dried fruit and nuttiness, it’s always high alcohol because a lot of sugars from the mountain of grain used.

Aging beer does have its rewards. Ideal styles to cellar are Barleywines, Imperial Stouts, Belgian-style Quads, and other high-alcohol beers made with dark malts. Barrel-aged sours are lower in alcohol but can also age beautifully. It’s the acidity that carries them through.

But remember, just like wine, as a beer ages, it changes. The hop bitterness gets milder and you taste more of the sweet malt characteristics. Generally speaking, beers over 8% will age better. But so will low alcohol Lambics and wild ales.

And always age your bottle upright, in the dark and between 50 to 60 degrees.

Mary Earl has been educating Kitsap wine lovers for a couple of decades, is a longtime member of the West Sound Brew Club and can pair a beer or wine dinner in a flash. She volunteers for the Clear Creek Trail, is a member of the Central Kitsap Community Council and a longtime supporter of Silverdale.