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If you've read my blog before (and I'm hoping you have), you know I'm a real sucker for Weihenstephan. With all of the emphasis on small-batch, craft-brewed beer, these guys break the mold. Aside from being the oldest brewery in existence (with roots dating back to 1040), they're an absolute monster of a brewhouse with worldwide distribution and annual production levels to rival the biggest of macrobreweries. Yet, unlike the big boys at Anheuser-Busch, who target the lowest common denominator for higher profit margins, Weihenstephan uses their clout to make world-class products with unparalleled precision. Though there are plenty of American breweries producing great German-style ales and lagers, in my opinion, they just can't come close to the likes of the Weihenstephaner Original or Korbinian (the latter of which is one of my favorite beers of all time). Everything that comes out of their facility is just sheer perfection.

Since my discovery of Weihenstephan, I've made a point to seek out every beer in their lineup. ?I found most of them pretty easily, with the exception of Vitus, who turned out to be one elusive S.O.B. ?Luckily, I found a few stashed away at my local?Natural Market?on Austin Street in Forest Hills. ?Operation Drink Everything Weihenstephaner was a success. ?Mission Accomplished.

Vitus is a Weizenbock (a wheat beer of bock strength), and somewhat of a brother beer to Korbinian (they're both named after religious figures). However, unlike other Weizenbocks, which tend to be darker and based on the famous Schneider-Weisse Aventinus, this beer is straw yellow and cloudy. On sight alone, it looks indistinguishable from a standard Hefeweizen. Flavorwise, it's basically a Hefeweizen on steroids... A Super-Hefe, if you will... Like Weihenstephan took their Hefe, put it in a saucepan and reduced it by half before bottling. It has the banana and clove aromatics you'd expect, and a pronounced biscuity malt flavor, but has a surprisingly thick texture. It just screams to be paired with something rich and bready.

Enter Tarte Flamb?e, a specialty from the Alsace region of France, which borders Germany and Switzerland. This dish, also known as "flammekueche" or "flammkuchen" on the German side of the border, starts with somewhat of a pizza dough that gets smeared with?Cr?me Fraiche?or Fromage Blanc, then?topped with red onion and bacon before entering an extremely hot oven. ?It's all about restraint with tarte flambee and a good recipe uses each ingredient sparingly to find the right balance between them all. ?The end result is a rich and comforting bite of food with a surprisingly mild flavor.

As I mentioned in the post for my last homebrew recipe, ParadoxicAle, I've been trying to live a slightly healthier lifestyle and cut down on the sheer quantity of awfulness I consume. ?Turns out, that's really difficult to do when you write a food and beer blog and want to make things like bread coated in cream and bacon... So, I opted to enlist the help of my sister, Tricia. ?Aside from being an amazing artist (she designs all of my homebrew labels) and successful advertising professional, she's also a health conscious cook who writes a food blog called?Diet It Up. ?She took the idea of tarte flambee and made a few substitutions to tame the fat and calories of the original, while retaining all of it's deliciousness. ?So,?I whipped up her recipe?with the addition of a few spinach leaves (I just felt like it needed something green), and paired it with a half liter of Vitus.

I really enjoyed this pairing. ?Both the beer and the tarte flambee are rich and filling while being subtly flavored. ?The creamy texture of the super-hefe works nicely with the soft cheese mixture and the biscuity malt is?enhanced?by the warm crusty pizza dough. ?Best of all, this isn't a pairing that requires a certain seasonal surrounding like some. ?I'd find this meal just as appropriate for winter comfort food as I would for a summer dinner party.

Anyway, if you see Vitus or another pale Weizenbock (like Ayinger Weizenbock) at a store near you, I urge you to give the pairing a try. ?If you can't find the Weizenbock, a regular Hefeweizen would get you into the same territory. ?It's a mild, but delightful. ?I mean, c'mon... It's a combination of beer, bread and bacon. ?What's not to love?

Source: http://www.pangaeabeerandfood.com/2011/07/weihenstephaner-vitus-and-tarte-flambee.html

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