Beer, cupcakes and the history of civilization

Because our husbands have accompanied us to many wine-tasting events, my friend Dawn Ford and I agreed to reciprocate by taking them to a beer tasting the other night.

Carol Costello, a professor in UT’s Culinary Institute and director of the organization’s wine and beer education program, had sent me the invitation. The tasting was at the UT Visitors Center (formerly the UT Faculty Club) on a rainy Wednesday night and it was packed. I had no idea what a treat was in store as Oscar Wong, the founder and owner of Highland Brewing Company in Asheville, North Carolina, stepped to the front of the room.

Wong, an energetic 72-year-old retired structural/civil engineer,  has a glint in his eyes and easy laughter. He is a spellbinding storyteller. During less than two hours we tasted five beers, had a meal featuring dishes cooked with beer (including cupcakes), and discussed fascinating economic development issues in Asheville and the importance of beer in the history of the world. It was a whirlwind.

Oscar Wong

Wong started Highland Brewing Company in 1994 as a hobby after retiring and selling his consulting company. Highland Brewing, which employs 34 people, produced 23,000 barrels of beer last year and expects to double that amount this year. Its beers are distributed to seven states in the Southeast. (In East Tennessee, it is distributed by Cherokee Distributing Company, a great Moxley Carmichael client and one of the sponsors of the beer tasting.)

I’ll just hit the highlights of some of the most interesting and amusing things he said:

• He was born in Jamaica in 1940, the son of two Chinese parents. He is a graduate of Notre Dame. “My parents are Chinese. I was born in Jamaica. I run a Scottish brewery in Asheville, North Carolina,” he said with a chuckle. “Only in America.”
• He grew up drinking beer at the family table, having his first taste at age seven. “Chinese drink and eat everything,” he laughed. “The only thing on four legs that we don’t eat is the table!”
• According to Wong, only two cuisines in the world taste best with wine — French and Italian. “All the other cuisines in the world go best with beer,” he said.
• There are 10 existing craft breweries in Asheville, causing the city to win the title “Beer City USA” three years in a row by an industry publication. This designation caught the attention of some large breweries which expressed interest in opening locations in Asheville. As part of his volunteer job with the city’s chamber of commerce, Wong found himself on a committee tasked with recruiting — and ultimately landing — Sierra Nevada and New Belgium breweries. Those two companies, the second and third largest craft breweries in America,  received tax incentives to locate in Asheville, opportunities the 10 existing breweries did not enjoy. Wong shook his head at the irony, but said he thinks the new companies will “raise the bar” for the other breweries. While Highland produced 23,000 barrels last year, the Asheville satellites of Sierra Nevada and New Belgium will produce 300,000 to 400,000 barrels a year.
• Kitty Price, who is in sales with Highland, accompanied Wong to the tasting. She said that the reason Asheville is so well known as a brewing center is because it has such good water.
• Wong said the thing that will prevent Highland from expanding much beyond the seven states to which it now distributes is transportation. “Transportation is a pain,” he said. “It is not good for the beer. And it is not good for the bottom line.” He said Highland’s craft beer is like fresh baked bread. “It has no preservatives so it starts to deteriorate as soon as it comes out of the barrel,” he said.
• Consistency from batch to batch is what separates the good brewers from the not so good ones, he said. “Agricultural products vary from crop to crop,” Wong noted. “How well you compensate for the variations determines how good you are.” He says even wine makers will admit that beer is more difficult to make than wine.
• Now the history of civilization part. “Beer has been a cornerstone of civilization,” he said. “If you were from the country, you were using it to conserve protein. If you were from the city, it was safer to drink beer than water because it was boiled.”

Wong didn’t say this that night, but I love this quote attributed to him on Highland’s website: “In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria.” Ha!

Kitty Price and Oscar Wong

The first beer, Little Hump Spring Ale, was paired with cheddar cheese for our tasting. Kitty Price said all Highland's seasonal beers are named for protected mountains in North Carolina.

Wong said ales like this are more “in your face floral” than the other beers. I liked it.

The second beer was Oatmeal Porter, matched with the gruyere cheese.

“Oatmeal is not just for breakfast anymore!” Wong quipped.

The event was a sell-out and had a waiting list.

Dawn gives it the old college try. (We are wine drinkers.)

The third beer, Kashmir IPA was Wong's favorite. We enjoyed it with parmesan cheese.

This last beer was very interesting: Black Mocha Stout. It was served with mascarpone cheese with chocolate sauce. It is a dessert beer!

Carol Costello invited us to the buffet, which was prepared by second-year culinary arts students from Pellissippi State. Chef Tyler White, pictured here, oversees that program, which is offered in cooperation with UT.

Several kinds of pizza were on the menu.

And focaccia.

The brisket, which had been cooking for 10 hours, was served with a barbecue sauce made with seasonal beer.

Chicken kabobs.

These cupcakes were made with Porter.

Dinner was served with a Gaelic Ale.

Rosa Mar, right, and Pam Treacy in the buffet line.

Megan Venable Smith with her cupcake.

Richard Ford enjoyed the cupcakes, too.

John and Rhonda Clark

Carol called these "Tennessee tartans" and gave them as gifts to Kitty and Oscar.

And everyone who attended got a glass like this to take home.

Haha! Carol's earrings were shaped like frosty beer glasses!