Food and beer, just like peanut butter and chocolate, taste great together. Pairing the two certainly isn’t rocket science but even the most dedicated brewpubs end up favoring one over the other. These places serve great beer and great food, but often one leads while the other follows. Though your memories of the place may be favorable, there is usually a clear division between what you ate and what you drank.
That’s something U Turn BBQ in Lafayette is looking to change. Here, you can get heaping platters of pulled pork, brisket and smoked sausages with sides of baked beans, potato salad and more, and you can wash it all down with a tall glass of U Turn’s special brews. They make everything in-house daily from scratch, including the beer.
Opened by father/sons Tim, Weston and Shem Trapp earlier this year, U Turn BBQ took over the large and inviting space off U.S. 287 and W. Baseline Road that was formerly a Burger King. Along with the guts of the building, the Trapps inherited a drive-thru window with their purchase. The Trapps decided to keep the drive-thru operational, selling food and brew out the window for people choosing to picnic or dine at home. State law dictates that a restaurant can’t sell six-packs unless they brew it on-site so the Trapps recruited Alex Violette, former head brewer for Upslope, to craft a couple of tasty beverages to pair with U Turn’s made-to-order platters.
The Dark, an American-style stout, weighs in at 5.9 percent alcohol by volume. Dark and effervescent in the glass, Dark looks a lot like a mouth-watering glass of Coca-Cola. One sniff of the nose and the roasted malt is a dead giveaway, this is a stout but a much more refreshing and thirst-quenching stout than you might expect.
U Turn’s Dark has a simplicity that makes it the ideal beer for barbecue. There are no adjuncts, nuances or ingredients to get in the way of sweet malt pairing beautifully with salty meat.
The same goes for Light (5 percent), U Turn’s Kölsch made with a specialty yeast strand from Germany. Light and fizzy, this beer cuts through any heat and any smoke with an extremely crisp finish. Light brightens up the palate and clears the way for another bite of savory sausage. If you thought the Dark was surprisingly refreshing, wait until you try this.
Light and Dark, no need to pick favorites here; they’re both stellar. It’s a trend that is sure to continue with U Turn’s latest release, an IPA just in time for the sweltering heat of July. Thankfully, when it comes to beer, three is never a crowd.
On tap: U Turn BBQ. 599 Crossing Drive, Lafayette, 303-933-6033. uturnbbq.com
