“Don’t patronise a woman and assume she wants to drink wine”: ‘Independent’ interview with Jane Peyton

Beer Sommelier, beer historian and Dea Latis supporter Jane Peyton is interviewed by the Independent and talks about why beer makes people happy, why more women don’t drink beer – it’s the pint glasses, mainly – and Jane Austen’s spruce beer. Read it here:  http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/jane-peyton-interview-britains-beer-sommelier-of-the-year-on-witchcraft-and-jane-austen-10361455.html

 

 

 

Women beer-lovers host beer and cheese tasting

A group of beer-loving women is holding a beer and cheese tasting in central London next Wednesday, 8 October,  to encourage more women to discover the delights of our national drink.

Dea Latis – named after the Celtic goddess of beer and water – was established by a handful of women working in pubs and breweries, and hosts regular tastings to demonstrate beer’s versatility as a partner with different foods.  The beer and cheese tasting is being held on:

Date:               Wednesday 8^th October

Time:              3.00 – 5.00 pm

Venue:            The Bishops Finger,  9-10 West Smithfield, London EC1A 9JR

Guests will be offered five different beer and cheese combinations, from goat’s cheese and fruit beer to traditional ale and cheddar. Hosting the event and explaining the beer and cheese matches is Annabel Smith, one of the country’s only female Beer Sommeliers.

Annabel says, “The hallmark of a great match of beer and cheese, or indeed any food and drink, is that they enhance each other’s taste.  Beer works especially well with cheese as its natural carbonation cuts through the fattiness of cheese – which is something wine can’t do.”

Tickets, including five beers, cheeses, expert talks and tea/coffee, cost £17 per person. Please visit our Eventbrite page to buy tickets:  http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dea-latis-beer-and-cheese-tasting-tickets-12781994289?aff=es2&rank=0

Further information:    Ros Shiel, ros@shielporter.com

Lisa Harlow: lisa@lisaharlow.co.uk

Dea Latis stages fifth annual beer and chocolate tasting

As part of its continuing quest to encourage more women to enjoy our national drink, industry group Dea Latis hosted its fifth annual beer and chocolate tasting on Tuesday.
Twenty guests gathered in the Clarence pub on Whitehall to taste six beers, each paired with a chocolate chosen to enhance the flavours in each. Expert guidance to the beer and chocolate matches was provided by Annabel Smith, beer sommelier and Dea Latis founder.
Smith said, “We regularly pair beer with a variety of foods, but the chocolate tasting is probably our most popular event. The fact that we’re staging this event for the fifth time reflects not only the strong appeal of sampling beer and chocolate together, but also the growing awareness of Dea Latis within the beer and pubs industry.”
The beers and chocolates tasted by guests at The Clarence were:
• Molson Coors Blue Moon (ABV 5.4%)with Terry’s Milk Chocolate Orange
• Everards Tiger (ABV 4.2%) with Green & Black’s Butterscotch Milk Chocolate
• Thwaites Tavern Porter (ABV 4.7%) with chocolate cup cakes
• Shepherd Neame Generation Ale (ABV 9%) with Green & Black’s Dark Chocolate with Hazelnut & Raisins
• Adnams Sole Bay (ABV 10%) with Montezumas Peeling Amorous White Chocolate
• Liefman’s Kriek lambic cherry beer (ABV 4.2%) with Thornton’s Dark Chilli Chocolate

And the runaway winner chosen as the best match was the Liefman’s Kriek lambic cherry beer with Thornton’s Dark Chilli Chocolate.

 Beer and chocolate: the science behind a perfect match
Essentially, beer and chocolate share the same basic taste, which is a balance of bitterness – derived from the cocoa beans in chocolate, the hops in beer – and sweetness – from the chocolate’s sugar and the malted barley in beer. They also deliver a similar mouthfeel: the chocolate melts in the mouth, while the alcohol in beer creates a warming mouthfeel. So when they’re consumed together, the tastes and textures complement each other. Add to that the carbonation in beer, which cuts through the fattiness of the chocolate and you have a truly perfect match.

Beer and chocolate tasting wows Leeds ladies

A group of women in Leeds recently joined the growing number of female beer drinkers when the Leeds Brewery Tap hosted a pre-Easter beer and chocolate tasting.
The tasting was organised by Dea Latis – named after the Celtic goddess of beer – a nationwide group aiming to encourage more women to enjoy beer. They have staged beer and chocolate tastings in London before, but the event was the first to be held outside the capital.
Guests tasted six different beers, each with a different chocolate designed to bring out the taste in each. Expert guidance was provided by Annabel Smith, Dea Latis founder and one of the country’s few beer sommeliers.
Smith said, “Beer and chocolate are perfect partners. They are both a balance of sweetness and bitterness, so when consumed together, the tastes and textures complement each other.
“Our guests at yesterday’s tasting included experienced beer lovers, occasional beer drinkers and complete novices, but everyone learned something new and, more importantly, had a great evening tasting beer with chocolate.”
The matches sampled by guests were:

• Leeds Yorkshire Blonde and Ye Old Sun Inn Venezuelan Chocolte
• Ossett Treacle Stout with Bon Bon’s Dark Chocolate Caramels
• Brains Boilermaker IPA with Dar Chocolate and Lemon Parfait
• Jacobsen Velvet Ale with Champagne Truffles
• Ilkley Brewery ‘The Mayan’ Chocolate Chipotle Stout with Turkish Delight
• Blue Moon with Terry’s Chocolate Orange

A vote was taken by the group at the end of the evening to choose their favourite beer and chocolate match, and this was won by Ilkley Brewery ‘The Mayan’ matched with Turkish Delight. In a double coup, ‘The Mayan’ was brewed by Harriet Marks, the only beer on the evening to be brewed by a female.

Smith concluded, “This was one of our most successful events and it’s great to move Dea Latis out of London and start involving women in other parts of the country. We chose Leeds because it has such a wonderful, thriving brewing scene and the Brewery Tap was the perfect venue for us.”