Wild Game and Beer

Hi all,

A friend is an avid hunter, and every year has a big "Wild Game" dinner to share his hobby with friends. It's always a great time. :rockin:

This year, I'm going to make a beer worthy of the feast, but then I started thinking, what kind of beer would I pair with it?

So I need your help. What kind/style of beer would go with: venison, duck, goose, and maybe rabbit? And possibly other wild game as well.

I'm thinking maybe a light-ish amber or red ale...?

Any ideas would be appreciated!

I think a porter would go well with some wild game.

Something with some balls is needed to stand up to the stronger flavors of game. Nothing too hoppy though. Instead, I would focus on rich malt and roasty characters. Porter is a good suggestion. The red ale could be good if you use enough roasted barley that it comes through in the flavor. An english brown or nut brown would also be a good pairing.

I think the spiciness off a triple would be pretty good with wild game.

KingBrianI said:

An english brown or nut brown would also be a good pairing.

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I agree with this. My brown goes great with elk!

Just going a bit out on a limb here but what about this:

Gruit Ale, with a grist of something like 70% british pale, 10% british amber, 10% british brown and 10% oats.

Bittered and flavored with gruit including some juniper berries late in the boil. The earthy woody herbal gruit herbs and the pungent spicy juniper berries combined with the rich smooth roasty malts should pair wonderfully with wild game. Mmm, pan-seared venison drizzled with a wild berry and brandy pan sauce, with a herbed potatos roasted in duck fat. Maybe a few wild mushrooms sauted in butter and herbs on top. And a pint of gruit ale to wash it down.

i'm a hunter and eat everything i shoot/catch.

venison- this can be the toughest call since the flavor of the meat can vary so much from mild to really gamy. as such i like pale ales with does and early season bucks and a roastier amber to stout for late season bucks since theses are the ones that are generally the gamiest. also use the same beer in the marinade as your serving with the deer.

ducks- are great paired with a porter for roast duck or an ipa for fried duck tits

goose- pretty much the same guidelines.

bunnies- are a lighter fare and as such go well with milds and brown ales

Great marinade for Venny.

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup olive. oil

1 small can unsweetened pine-apple juice 6 oz

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic crushed

1 tablespoon brown sugar

all in a Ziploc bag with venison in fridge overnight

Cookiebaggs said:

Great marinade for Venny.

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup olive. oil

1 small can unsweetened pine-apple juice 6 oz

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic crushed

1 tablespoon brown sugar

all in a Ziploc bag with venison in fridge overnight

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i'd swap out the pineapple juice for a nice pale ale

eriktlupus said:

i'd swap out the pineapple juice for a nice pale ale

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That would work. IPA might be nice!

I've also used orange juice. Either way, the venny tastes awesome.

Brown Ale sounds good with most meaty game. Maybe something lighter for Rabbit or Hare, since it's more like chicken.

I agree that a stronger flavor would work with wild game, but it goes well with any meat-based dish.

Reminds me to ask a guy at work if I can shoot a doe on his property. He's overloaded with them this year.

I agree with all these guys saying a Brown or Mild.

Make the porter too and serve it with desert.

Homercidal said:

Brown Ale sounds good with most meaty game. Maybe something lighter for Rabbit or Hare, since it's more like chicken.

I agree that a stronger flavor would work with wild game, but it goes well with any meat-based dish.

Reminds me to ask a guy at work if I can shoot a doe on his property. He's overloaded with them this year.

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Actually, I prefer to cook rabbit Belgian-style, in kriek (lapin a la kriek). It's more of a stew, actually, and goes extremely well with a Belgian trippel.

Cookiebaggs said:

That would work. IPA might be nice!

I've also used orange juice. Either way, the venny tastes awesome.

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Your recipe sounds great!

We just finished a venison meatloaf that was awesome. Venison is quite lean so I mixed it with a little oil. I didn't write it down, but it was something like this:

1 pound venison
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
Wocestershire sauce
1 small onion

Pour the milk over the bread crumbs, to rehydrate the bread crumbs. Mix the rest together, adding a bit of olive oil to moisten.

Pour over:
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 TBPS worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dry mustard
Water to make a "sauce"

Bake about 75 minutes until done at 375.

Serve with APA or IPA. Cascade hops or centennial hops in the aroma/flavor hops really go well with this sweet & sour sauce.

Thanks guys!

I sampled a brew at a local brew-pub, a slightly hoppy amber, that I'm going to go with. My local homebrew shop has a kit to make it.

Thanks again!

For dinner tonight I made bacon wrapped broiled venison filets with creole seasoning, baked potatoes, and hickory bacon baked beans and served it with my version of Yooper's Dogfish Head 60 clone and wow that was an awesome meal.

my father-in law works with a guy who traps beaver, but only for the pelts. so this co-worker brought the meat (yes, beaver meat) to work one day for my father-in-law. father-in-law put the beaver meat in the crockpot with potatos and made it just like you would a beef pot roast. it's really good and has a little more flavor than beef. goes really good with a brown ale or any dark beer.

jpc said:

Actually, I prefer to cook rabbit Belgian-style, in kriek (lapin a la kriek). It's more of a stew, actually, and goes extremely well with a Belgian trippel.

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Sounds VERY interesting, care to share the recipe? Regards, GF.

gratus fermentatio said:

Sounds VERY interesting, care to share the recipe? Regards, GF.

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Hmmm... I'll have to see if I can find the recipe. Often times, I just search the web and find a few recipes and ad lib from there, but I think I have this written down somewhere at home.

I find APA goes with either Moose or Rabbit, but perhaps I'm biased. I think APA goes with everything.

Wild Game and Beer, huh?

Was Dick Cheney invited?

hahaha! that's funny, howmebrewer! :rockin:

dataz722 said:

I think the spiciness off a triple would be pretty good with wild game.

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QFT, triple is great with game foods. Just make sure it isn't too bananarama or sweet. Keep those temps in check.