For two years and counting, Bone Haus Brewing in Fountain Hills has been serving up curated beer pairings for the community to enjoy.
Held each quarter, Bone Haus beer pairings offer locals and visitors a chance to see, smell and taste locally brewed beer along with a full-course dinner menu.
Tapping Valley chefs like Chef Mat Meyer of Ansley Table, Chef Holly Rogers of The Italian Buffalo and private Chef Jenn Beach, Bone Haus Brewing Beer Educator Rachel Benkowski has a roster of kitchen creatives that add a new dimension to beer tasting.
“A lot of people think wine-pairing dinners are fancy and elevated but beer pairing dinners can be just as elevated, so I’m trying to break down that barrier,” Benkowski said.
Like all pairing events in the past, the spring pairing was a sold-out event. The menu featured four Bone Haus brews and a menu from Chef Rogers and her team (Andrew Zick and Kendall Shepherd).
Offering an informal session quite different from the Bone Haus beer school that dives deep into the beer-making process, the beer pairings allow Benkowski to lead an open class discussion from a pairing syllabus where there are no wrong answers, veering early and often into topics like carbonation and bitterness, answering questions as she goes.
“Generally for these kinds of events, people just want to come and enjoy good food and good beer and enjoy the people that they came with,” she said.
Pat and Joe Burngasser attended the afternoon event, traveling from Ahwatukee to enjoy the pairing.
As Buffalo, New Yorkers, with a home in the Valley, Pat and Joe are fans of all things Buffalo, which is where The Italian Buffalo Chef Rogers is originally from.
“She’s on this Buffalo Facebook page and that’s how we found out about the event,” Pat said. “What we’ll do for food.”
Benkowski says the way humans taste is through the olfactory system (the sense of smell), contributing to the perception of complex flavors and enhancing taste sensations. It also connects humans with emotions and memories, playing a critical role in appetite and flavor preference.
When pairing food and beer, Benkowski says it’s important to taste them separately and then together to see which flavors become accentuated and which become subdued.
Friends Ronnie Baldwin and Natalie Napolitano have attended these events in the past. What keeps them coming back is Benkowski’s ability to explain complex topics in ways that make sense.
“Rachel is one of the most knowledgeable beer people in the entire Valley,” Napolitano said. “Being a woman in beer is extremely awesome, and the entire Bone Hause crew is amazing.”
Baldwin says the environment is very welcoming as well, encouraging open dialogue.
As a certified beer cicerone with a growing number of interested beer pairing participants, elevating beer is something Benkowski plans to do for the foreseeable future.
“I’m always trying to break down that barrier that beer is the working man’s drink and wine is the fancy man’s drink,” Benkowski said, “That could not be farther from the truth.”
To stay up to date with Benkowski’s beer pairing and beer school events, follow Bone Haus Brewing on social media or online at bonehausbrewing.com.
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