Black Diamond - Freestyle: Artichoke Eater's Companion Species Manifesto

A pilsner in winter? One Woman was a bit perplexed. Add to that, Mme. J.C's warning that you may not want to have wine with artichokes, which were the vegetable du jour. "Wine changes its character when drunk with this vegetable," she says.

Despite the French authorities who, back in 1961 suggested that water should be the diner's beverage of choice for artichokes, One Woman discovered today that beer goes superbly with artichokes, steamed or roasted. Choose beer if artichokes are for dinner.

NON:

Don't drink wine with artichokes!

 

As for this particular beer, the Black Diamond's label describes it as "a brilliant golden colored ale with rich silky flavor of European Pilsner malt that's punctuated with spicy notes of rye and accented by the complex Belgian yeast." What that translates to is a cultural confusion, or a "hybridity" of genres. Is it American? German? Belgian? A lager? An ale? A summer beer? A winter beer? The answer is, well, it's sort of all correct. With a reddish gold hue, and soft white head, it has a floral scent like a slow summer evening, but also some winter scents, like spruce, cloves, and a dash of orange zest. The crazy thing about this beer is that it's simultaneously pilsner and Belgian -like.

Back to artichokes. The combination was fascinating. The Freestyle mellowed out the strange bitterness of the artichoke, and in the process, changed its own character. Suddenly, with the artichoke, it became the lighter weight sibling of a classic Belgian blond like La Chouffe!

To recap: Black Diamond is an German inspired, Belgian blonde beer with an American personality. It's equally welcome at the fireplace after a day of snowboarding, or on the deck, watching the sun go down over the Pacific Ocean.

Musical pairing of the day: Breeders, Last Splash (1993) – slightly quirky, pretty poppy, super fun. (Yeah yeah, I know, you like Pod better).

OUI are family!