What refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach?

Walk through the entrance of Culture Biere (sorry, I can’t remember how to do a grave accent on my Mac) and you’d think you were in a cutting edge cocktail bar. But in fact this is Paris’s new temple to beer funded by brewing giant Heineken.

It’s a clever attempt to rebrand beer as a sophisticated drink and partner for food. For simplicity’s sake - and because French and Belgian beers can easily be classified that way - the beers are divided into Blanche, Blonde, Ambre and Brune. Each dish has a recommended beer style paired with it but more ingenious still there’s a menu of ‘Amuse-bieres’ (drat that missing accent) or nibbles designed to go with each style.

Much to the delight of my husband we tried out a couple of Blondes (their own brew and an Affligem) with a gooey Munster dip seasoned with cumin seeds, a savoury ‘cake’ (crustless quiche) flavoured with red peppers and olives and a ham and vegetable pasta salad - not amazing quality but perfectly decent and all good matches. You can also order a selection of ice creams and sorbets to match with a beer - including wacky flavours such as carrot, cumin and gingerbread.

In the boutique downstairs they sell beer-flavoured everything you can think of from mustard to coq a la biere to hop-flavoured green tea. They also have some really nice beer glasses.

For more info log onto www.culturebiere.com

Image © draghicich - Fotolia.com

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