Creating Masterpieces: The Relationship Between Art and Beer

March 1, 2014 By Don Tse

Sidebar: Some favorite beer and art pairings

Unibroue Quelque Chose and the “Spatialism” paintings of Lucio Fontana (1899-1968)—Fontana was an Argentine-born Italian painter famous for monochromatic paintings with slashes in them. The slashing was revolutionary since it broke the surface of the canvas, bringing a third dimension to painting, traditionally a two-dimensional art form. Similarly, Unibroue’s Quelque Chose, which can be enjoyed either cold or hot, revolutionized beer by adding temperature as a dimension to its enjoyment. While temperature affects the flavor of all beer, Quelque Chose is one of only a few intended to be heated. Enjoying the beer hot surprisingly enhances its effervescence and causes its flavors to dance throughout the mouth in a manner different from other beers. One can almost visualize the flavors not just covering the tongue in two dimensions, but also flittering through the mouth in three dimensions.

Barley wines and Mark Rothko (1903-1970)—Barley wines are big beers that engulf the taste buds. Their presence in the mouth commands your attention. Similarly, the large paintings of Russian-born American artist Mark Rothko, which are often displayed in a room covered with his art, envelop the viewer both physically and emotionally. The paintings are abstract, with nothing more than a few large shapes of color, but their size and the emotions they evoke draw in viewers in a manner identical to the way barley wines pull in drinkers.

Dogfish Head’s Saxony-Anhalt Ale and a beer recipe collage—The Province Ale Project—Dogfish Head has made something of a niche in reproducing historical beers. For this, it resurrected 12 antique recipes, including Saxony-Anhalt Ale, brewed with deer antler. Saxony-Anhalt Ale was Dogfish Head’s contribution to Amber Waves—The Art of American Craft Beer and was served alongside a collage made from reproduced pages of the brewing journal from which The Province Ale Project beer recipes were taken. While the beer and the collage were works of art unto themselves, the pairing created a complete picture, taking Amber Waves attendees back in time better than either the beer or the collage could alone.