The New Wine?

There was an article in today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution entitled Is Beer Becoming the New Wine? The article didn’t say much and was mostly just a press release for an upcoming beer dinner at a place called Twain’s in Decatur. Although the article did preface the information about the beer dinner by saying,

The nose is just a little bit forward, with a heavy finish towards the back of throat — effervescent, with lots of caramel. It should taste wonderful with roasted pork shoulder and braised winter vegetables. It would be equally as good with a bit of chocolate cake.

No, it’s not wine — beer has become the hip drink to pair with foods these days. Consequently, beer-pairing dinners are popping up all over town.

Which – along with the title, of course – got me thinking: is beer really becoming “the new wine”? While I don’t think beer dinners and beer & food pairing will ever over-take wine events (although it really, really should; the pairings are just down-right better), will there be a day when the two are seen as equals? Or is wine culture just too ingrained in our psyche to allow beer to catch up? What are your thoughts?