28. Pairing "The Great British Baking Show" and Beer, with Love Beer Learning
It's baking season, so let's hear from an expert on pairing this delightful show with beer; plus a farmhouse ale to feel just a little indulgent.
Tidings of Comfort and Joy (aka Carbs and Beer)
At some point during the “floating in a sensory deprivation tank of depression, anxiety, isolation, and dread” that was the slow-motion blur of 2020, I finally relented and clicked on “The Great British Baking Show” on Netflix. I had resisted for years, because for some reason, as much as I love and write about all things food, I haven’t had much luck getting invested in food-based television. And, all the descriptions about “The Great British Baking Show,” or “Bake Off,” that people were spouting as things to love about the show are actually things that usually bore me. “Quiet,” “relaxing,” “cheerful” (at least until we started noticing how keen producers seem to be on making people cry into their freezers); these are all things that sound nice and healthy to want in your entertainment but I just can’t quit all the fun of, like, murder and drug cartels and such.
Lo and behold, it took me all of five minutes to be absolutely enamored with GBBO. It defies all logic for me. It is not my thing. And yet it has so very much become my thing. Is it the pastel palette? The delightful hosts (I thought I couldn’t love anyone more than Sue and Mel, but Noel Fielding is obviously the joy we didn’t even know we were missing)? The sincere contestants, who make me feel hope for humanity again—their talent, their loveliness? I mean, this is embarrassingly earnest for me, but I live for the catch-up on who’s visited who and who’s hosted everyone for a backyard reunion post-finale credits. GBBO even got me into baking, something I’ve long detested. I once could barely force myself to make the cookies you slice off a roll, now I’ve made macarons. Macarons.
Every now and then, I’ll think, “I wonder how I can relate GBBO to beer. Is there some way I can reverse-engineer GBBO recaps into talking about beer and drinking and eating and happiness?” And then, I saw it. I stumbled upon a genius creation from a genius Beer Person I follow on Instagram.
Joanne Love, aka “The Beer School Lady,” is the educator and creator behind Love Beer Learning. In addition to homebrewing and making social media content that truly always brightens my day (and so I recommend following her if you’re not already), Joanne forges community and teaches classes on all things beer. Joanne also did a series that paired every episode of this most recent GBBO season with beer. And so, to me, Joanne is an icon. As soon as I realized I’d somehow missed that she was doing this until nearly the season finale, I emailed her and asked her if she’d walk us through her pairings. I’m so excited she said yes. Number one, I thought this was the perfect time of year to think about how beer can pair with all things baked, since the holidays might have you baking and/or enjoying everything from homemade bread to pie to cookies. Number two, GBBO = happiness, baby, and that feels like a nice festive break from, say, tearing our hair out over the relentless misogyny still thriving in beer.
And so, based on a delightful Zoom chat with Joanne and her social feed, here’s a walk through GBBO season 12, with beer.
Episode 1: Cake Week.
Ooh, can you feel the excitement as the plucky little music starts and a batch of new, nervous bakers filter into the tent? For this first episode, our bakers are tasked with making mini Swiss rolls for their signature challenge, a malt loaf for the technical challenge, and an “anti-gravity illusion” cake (lol ok) for the showstopper challenge. By the way, I was going to get into performances and who left and who won “star baker” each episode, but you have Joanne, who is obviously nicer and more thoughtful than me, to thank for reminding me that of course not everyone is caught up and this would be a big spoiler.
Joanne’s pairing: Vault City Raspberry White Chocolate Honeycomb Sour. (WATCH.)
“[Vault City] made beers for their birthday based on the dream birthday cake that they wanted,” Joanne explains. The sour she chose features raspberry, white chocolate, and honeycomb, all things that you could expect to find adorning a GBBO cake, and that, when combined, mimic the flavor harmony of the kinds of cakes the judges are looking for. There’s a sweetness, but it’s cut by some element of tartness, and there’s an art to the texture, too. When pairing your cake with a beer, think about what flavor combinations you’re creating, and what will achieve balance—you want to, for example, temper the richness of chocolate with the acidity of a fruited sour.
Episode 2: Biscuit Week.
In week two, we watched bakers make brandy snaps for their signature, a sandwiched jammy biscuit for their technical, and a three-dimensional children’s toy—yes, out of cookie—for their showstopper.
Joanne’s pairing: Fuller’s London Pride Amber Ale (WATCH)
For Biscuit Week, Joanne thought about drilling down to the ingredients in a beer. “You can get biscuit flavors in beer. Where does that come from? It comes the malt.” Joanne wanted to use this opportunity as an educational platform to talk about what malts create that biscuity flavor, and what styles those malts are common in, like best bitters. The Fuller’s London Pride Amber Ale, too, is brewed with pale, crystal, chocolate, and amber malts.
Episode 3: Bread Week.
This week, our bakers were tasked with making focaccia for their signature, ciabatta breadsticks for their technical, and a “themed milk bread display” (yeah, idk either) for their showstopper.
Joanne’s pairing: Docker Brewery & Bakehouse x HopFuzz Brewery Sourdough Session Pale Ale (WATCH)
Bread Week proves another opportunity to think about individual ingredients and their impact on beer, and how we can broaden our horizons by seeking out brews made with alternative elements. Joanne says she happened to have this can in her fridge and knew it would be perfect: Docker both bakes and brews, adding excess sourdough bread to some of their beers.
“[I wanted to have] a little bit of education about why breweries would put bread into beer,” Joanne explains. “Because why wouldn’t you just use barley? But it helps with food waste, and the bread still produces the same fermentable sugars as barley does. And then you get different flavors—sourdough will give you a slightly different flavor than your barley will.”
Episode 4: Dessert Week.
This week, the bakers made pavlova for their signature, sticky toffee pudding for their technical, and a “joconde imprime dessert” for their showstopper. Joconde imprime means they’re creating patterns on their sponge and simultaneously blowing my mind because how does anyone know how to do this?
Joanne’s pairing: Mothership Beer Say No to Sexism Vegan Cheesecake Sour; Brew by Numbers Imperial Cherry Stout; London Beer Factory Zia Tiramisu Stout (WATCH)
This episode and beer pairing bring up a different kind of lesson, which is one in culinary lexicology. The terms “pastry” and “dessert” mean different things in the United States and the United Kingdom, Joanne points out. “I think [‘dessert’] is more like an American term. ‘Dessert’ can be pastry, or even a French term for dessert can be pastries, but here in the UK when we think ‘dessert,’ we think, say, ice cream. Or we say, ‘pudding’ [for ‘dessert’]. We don’t say ‘pastry.’”
And when it comes to “pastry,” in particular, the difference there could really throw British beer drinkers off a pastry stout. “When you think of ‘pastry’ in the UK, you’re thinking pies,” Joanne says. “But we are then thinking meat pies.”
Joanne used this episode’s pairing to discuss these terms and help people understand what brewers are trying to convey when they label their beers “pastry,” whether that’s a stout or a sour. And, of course, a pastry beer is a must for Dessert Week, thanks to innovative ingredient combos that can replicate entire desserts like tiramisu in liquid form.
Episode 5: German Week.
In dieser Woche, die Bäcker haben Kekse, Prinzregententorte, und Hefeteigkuchen gemacht.
Joanne’s pairing: The Whole Wide World of German Beer (WATCH)
It would be a no-brainer to slap any old German beer into this week’s episode pairing, but Joanne did something I love here (and have been writing about in other spaces, stay tuned) and used the occasion to talk about how vast the options are beyond “fizzy, yellow lagers.” By discussing doppelbock, märzen, schwarzbier, rauchbier, hefeweizen, gose, Berliner weisse, and kolsch, Joanne actually rounds up an entire category of pairing choices. From caramelly to grahamy to roasty to smoky to citrusy to salty, these beers can elevate a multitude of different dishes.
Episode 6: Pastry Week.
We’re back at the “pastry” conversation, so keep in mind that here, we’re looking at an English interpretation for the bakes. Contestants made chouxnuts, baklava, and terrine pie.
Joanne’s pairing: McColl’s Brewery Let’s Eat Pies and Talk About Men’s Mental Health Black & White Pepper Bitter (WATCH)
“I had a black and white pepper bitter made by a brewery called McColl’s,” Joanne says. “They had made it in conjunction with a mental health charity called Men’s Pie Club…It’s a really good charity that gets men together, and they bake pies. And then it’s an opportunity for them to meet other people and to talk, and so it really supports their mental health…and 10p from every can that’s bought goes to that charity.”
While the pie connection and important social message and charitable component of Joanne’s pick is more than enough of a pairing thought process, it’s also worth noting that the spice and bitterness here would work wonders with a sweet fruit pie as well as a rich savory pie.
Episode 7: Caramel Week.
GBBO sort of loses its calming powers during Caramel Week. Expect much secondhand stress. Caramel seems absolutely impossible to make. Mark my words: I will never make caramel. Anyway, the bakers had to somehow create a caramel tart, caramel biscuit bars (think Twix), and a “domed or sphered” caramel dessert.
Joanne’ pairing: Vocation Brewery x Salt Beer Factory Risk & Reward Salted Caramel Imperial Kveik Stout (WATCH)
“I happened to have a caramel imperial stout, which is handy,” Joanne says. But then, she also realized that as in Biscuit Week with biscuit malt flavors, Caramel Week was a good educational opportunity to discuss caramel malt. “I talked about the kilning process and I showed some [caramel malt] because, being a homebrewer, I happened to have those bits laying around.” With Joanne as your guide, a great way to celebrate Caramel Week is think about the different ways brewers can achieve a caramel character in their beers, from adding actual caramel to using caramel malt to decoction mashing.
Episode 8: Free-From Week
For “Free-From Week,” each challenge tasked the bakers with creating something without a major element it might be known for or is usually made with. There were dairy-free ice cream sandwiches, vegan sausage rolls, and a gluten-free celebration cake.
Joanne’s pairing: “Free-From” Beers from Three Hills Brewing, Arbor Ales, Bellfield Brewery, and First Chop (WATCH)
“I was like, ‘Right. I need to find vegan and gluten-free beers,’” Joanne says. “So, I had some gluten-free beers and I was like, obviously, gluten, you’re going to be using barley. That’s going to have gluten in it. But you can use either enzymes to strip away that gluten, or there are alternative grains you can use. Think about sorghum or rice. Then I also had some vegan beers—Three Hills, in particular, all of their beers are vegan.”
Just as in baking, brewing as an industry is responding more and more to a consumer base that have dietary restrictions or simply prefer to eschew different ingredients for health or personal reasons. The GBBO episode is a great reminder to get out there and explore the growing world of gluten-free, vegan, and of course alcohol-free beers.
Episode 9: Patisserie Week.
Patisserie Week is as stressful to me as Caramel Week. Perhaps I should just go back to watching something more chill, like “Gomorrah.” The semi-finalists had to make eight patisserie-style “layered slices,” a sablé Breton tart, and a “themed banquet display.” The entremet suspense will have you gnawing your silicone spatula.
Joanne’s pairing: Siren Craft Brew Extra Special Beans Nitro ESB with Coffee & Hazelnut; Tongerlo Tripel; Liquid Light Brewing Company Here We Are Now NEIPA; Duration Brewing Harvest Bier Märzen (WATCH)
Within this pairing, Joanne actually created an array of four different pairings to help drive home a few helpful principles and points of inspiration for your own food-and-beer duos. With a coffee and walnut swirl, she paired a coffee ESB, which matched the pastry in both coffee and nuttiness. With a buttery, sugary palmier, a Belgian tripel. “I was like, ‘Right. [The palmier’s] got a lot of fat in it, it's very sweet,’” Joanne says. “I’m going to pair that with Belgian tripel, because the carbonation is going to clean your palate. But that's got a little bit of spice to it, too. So, that's going to bring a bit more interest to the kind of just sweet pastry.”
With a chocolate twist? A NEIPA. “I had read that a NEIPA goes really well with chocolate chip cookies because you’ve got the chocolate and then you’ve got that orange, citrusy taste. It’s a bit like eating chocolate-covered orange.” Finally, Joanne paired a billionaire’s cronut with a märzen, to match the sweet caramel notes but also let the beer’s crisp carbonation cut the cronut’s richness.
Episode 10: Final.
The bakers made carrot cake, Belgian buns, and a Mad Hatter tea display, and I cried at the end, like I always do. If I say more, I’ll spoil it.
Joanne’s pairing: Vault City Raspberry White Chocolate Honeycomb Stout (WATCH)
We love a call-back, don’t we, folks? Unlike previous episodes, it’s impossible to predict what will be baked on the finale, and therefore impossible to plan a beer pairing. Instead, Joanne did the most satisfying thing and book-ended this series with the stout version of the sour from Vault City that she began with. It’s a safe bet that a beer with this balance of sweetness and tartness will both match and counter whatever’s getting baked. This beer could also hold its own as your entire dessert this holiday, so there’s that.
Check out Love Beer Learning for info, education, community, a podcast, and more, and also head over to Joanne’s Etsy page where you’ll find super fun and helpful beer party tasting kits and guides.
Beer Tarot!
This week, I pulled the Four of Pentacles.
Pentacles speaks to money, property, and achievement; the Four of Pentacles specifically to saving, security, and control.
The Four of Pentacles has a meaning that, when read straightforward, I feel doesn’t quite jive with our current world. On one hand, it’s telling you that if you feel you’re in a good financial state, then give yourself a pat on the back. You clearly made sacrifices and were disciplined to get here. I can get behind that. (Though, if this is you, uh, coach me?)
However, this card then goes on to say that you might have gone too far, hoarding your money at the cost of any real living. You’re choosing to roll around on all that money you keep dumping on top of your bed (which is super dirty, btw) instead of experiencing life, traveling, being generous to charity, etc. I do actually believe in erring on the side of living, especially after the pandemic has reminded us how precious that life is. We are in control of so little, and indeed have so little time. I know some people who deprive themselves of every last joy in order to not spend a dime.
That said, who’s doing well enough to have the luxury of making such easy-peasy choices right now? America was already totally a rigged game; most people have no hope of ever owning a home because of avocado toast or the cartoonishly evil greed of generations before us, depending on who you listen to; and then, Covid. So, it feels tone-deaf to tell you to, “Go ahead! Spend all your money, you tightwad!”
If you can find any balance, do. Treat yourself to any financial security you can find, because we need it, but also, whenever possible, treat yourself to whatever form of self-care or life experience you can. Craft beer falls under this umbrella, especially since it’s only getting more expensive. It can be the kind of pick-me-up that won’t totally break the bank, indulgent but accessible. Thinking about this, I can’t shake a specific brew I recently included in a blog post over at TapRm, Arrowood Farms’ Unending Curiosity. It’s a farmhouse ale brewed with smoked malts and local oyster mushrooms and barrel-aged in maple syrup. It’s surprising, unexpected, special, unique, and luxurious—at $16.50. Steep for beer but maybe not so bad for living a little, right?
This Week’s Boozy Reading Rec
Like Beth Demmon, I also discovered wine blogger Miroki Tong when she called out an old white wine wanker on Twitter. I felt fired up by her responses to this out-of-touch windbag, and it’s been a joy to follow her work since. In the most recent Prohibitchin,’ Beth interviews Miroki and it’s both important reading and delightful. Two necessary voices in one easy place!
Until next week, here is Darby sans beer and, arguably, sans holiday spirit, as well—but there’s a tree and stuff.
