Spreading the Good Word About Brew

Beer is much more than a refreshing beverage. Beer can be the key ingredient in gourmet dishes and also the perfect accompaniment to a delicious meal. Moderate beer consumption can also be part of a healthy lifestyle.

Cooking with Beer Challenge
NBWA distributes recipes featuring beer with suggested pairings to food editors and the public throughout the year. In 2006, the Association turned the tables and asked consumers for their favorite beer recipes. NBWA’s “Cooking with Beer Challenge” set out to find the best recipe in the country featuring beer. The contest culminated in a finalist cook-off in New York City where lucky winner Linda Rohr of Darien, Connecticut, beat out nine other top contestants to win a trip for two to Cancun with her “Quick and Easy White Beer-Seafood ‘Risotto’ with Fresh Herbs.”

Beer and chocolate: a delicious duo
Everyone’s tried champagne and chocolates for Valentines Day, but in 2006 NBWA teamed with Chef Warren Brown, host of the Food Network’s Sugar Rush, to challenge love birds to think outside the box. Chef Brown created three recipes for NBWA featuring beer and chocolate and participated in television and radio interviews prior to Valentine’s Day to promote beer as a unique pairing to holiday desserts and dinners.

Everyday Dining with Beer
NBWA produced a new recipe booklet in 2006 featuring recipes that highlight beer as an ingredient. The brochure includes recipes such as Beer and Peanut Soup with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Triple Chocolate Stout Beer Brownies. It also provides descriptions of different beer styles and tips for pairing beer with meals.

Beer: to Your Health!
In the fall of 2006, the NBWA Education Foundation and the University of Maryland Center for Food, Nutrition and Agriculture Policy (CFNAP) hosted a Beer: to Your Health! symposium in Washington, D.C. The event was the first of its kind in the U.S. to focus on the possible health benefits of beer and featured national and international experts who shared their findings on moderate alcohol consumption and risk communication.

Following the forum, researchers participated in a Capitol Hill reception hosted by the NBWA Education Foundation and CFNAP specifically for health policy congressional staff. Several of the researchers also conducted broadcast interviews discussing the health benefits of beer that aired on radio stations around the country.

Educating the medical community about beer
NBWA and the Association of Physicians Assistant in Cardiology (APAC) hosted a dinner for medical professionals in the field of cardiology that featured dishes made with beer and paired with beer. The dinner also featured Registered Dietitian Hillary Wright who led a thorough discussion of the latest health research regarding moderate beer consumption.

Reaching out to the media
NBWA also hosted a beer-pairing seminar for nearly twenty editors of Southern Living magazine and its sister publications – Coastal Living, Health and Progressive Farmers.