I haven't finished this big project yet, but I have made a lot of progress and it's ready to show.

All year I have been pairing New England Craft Beers with complementary foods. I have posted 80 pairings so far, representing 60 or more Craft Brewers of New England.  You can see the images in a photo gallery on this site, and there are bigger versions of most of them on the Foodie Pilgrim boards at Pinterest.

While I was doing this, I used a couple of tactics. At restaurants I just picked an interesting beer and selected something from the menu to complement it. At home I tried to keep a variety of craft beers in the house so when I came up with an idea for diner there would be a good chance of having a good match.It actually became pretty easy; once you know a few principles of beer-food matching.

One thing I learned is that many fish dishes pair easily with beer. Hops do not interfere with most fish seasonings. Since New England has so much coast and so many brewers, that's good news!

Another important discovery is that very hoppy beers can slice right through fatty foods that can be death to wines. Try a double IPA with fried clams - it's great!

Hoppy beers also pair well with most charcuterie, and the fattier the sausage the hoppier the beer it can pair with. Highly carbonated beers also help to cut the cloying fat of some dishes.

It's fun to pair subtle flavors, too, like orange zest in a dish to pair with a Belgian White Ale, and a smokey Rauchbier really isn't over the top with a double-smoked kielbasa, even though you might expect it to be.

Sometimes a rich beer can bring something to a light meal and make it seem more fulfilling, but don't expect a lighter ale to gain much from a rich meal. The flavors get overpowered and the beer becomes only liquid refreshment.

I have not tried every beer made in New England, and I have not even tried something from every brewery. It's not possible - there are over a hundred brewers in New England, and more opening every month! I still have to get to the craft brewers of Connecticut and Rhode Island, and I have barely touched upon the wonderful pairings you can do with ciders. But stay tuned...there are more coming!