Pairing Challenge

Beer or Wine – The Perfect Chicken Wing Pairing?

As a foodie and an admirer of both craft beer and fine wines, I often wonder what the perfect food pairing is.  What follows is a monthly debate on just that.  Once a month I’ll toss out a food for pairing suggestions from my fellow beer geeks and wine snobs.  Some dishes will come with a convention that popular opinion dictates a specific pairing.  Other posts will present a dish that is a toss-up between beer or wine.  I look forward to hearing your suggestions in this conversation.  Be creative, challenge norms, have fun, and check back often to read what others have to say.  

I have a dirty secret.  And yes, one day Mrs. G. is going to catch me red, er, orange handed.  She is going to come home early one evening and find me in the bedroom passed out with orange buffalo sauce caked onto my face and stained all over our crisp white sheets.  Diana Krall will be playing in the background as I lay in ecstasy with a deviant grin smudged across my mouth.  A littering of bones will be tossed haphazardly around me and our pug will most likely be lying dead from choking on the splinters.

I know this picture is sad, but I just can’t help myself.  I am addicted to chicken wings.  I could eat them every meal of the day.  When I was in Ecuador studying abroad what I craved most from home wasn’t my Dad’s steaks and homemade wine nor my Grandparents’ homemade spaghetti and meatballs.  No, it was chicken wings and an ice cold beer.  And it didn’t even have to be good beer.  Bush Light would suffice.  (As a side note, this doesn’t say a lot for neither Ecuador’s quality of beer nor my taste at the time.)

Which brings me to this month’s Beer or Wine Pairing challenge – Buffalo Chicken Wings.  I’m talking real Buffalo Chicken Wings and not any of those hundreds of other flavors that fill up wing joint menus.  I’m talking hot.  I’m talking spicy.  I’m talking peppery.  I’m talking buttery.  I’m talking Buffalo.  Don’t give me Thai or honey mustard or even spicy garlic.  To quote Cousin Bobo, “That’s bull-a-shit.”  And don’t you dare mention wings with sticky, goopy BBQ sauce.  I’m talking the original served with blue cheese dressing and celery.  What would you pair them with and why?

Me?  It has to be beer.  Thankfully, my taste buds are a bit more enlightened than in college.  I enjoy a pale ale with strong citrus hops alongside my hot chicken wings.  The fruit notes help wash down the spice.  IPAs a tad bit aggressive and tend to fight with the spice of the wings.  Bitter pale ales are also out as the flavors clash between the dishwater of the bitter and the heat of the wings.  What about you?  What do you prefer?  I am especially curious to hear from my wine snob friends.  What wine would you pair with wings?  Chenin Blanc?  Chardonnay?  Maybe you are out of the box and will toss me Muscadine?

Natty Greene Southern Pale Ale and Buffalo Chicken Wings - My Perfect Pairing

Natty Greene Southern Pale Ale and Buffalo Chicken Wings – My Perfect Pairing