Starting in the 1970s, two businesses -- one on the East Coast and one on the West --paved the way for the American beer revolution by introducing American drinkers to a handful of rare European beers. In Seattle, Charles Finkel, a wine importer, became convinced that he could sell fine beer much as he sold fine wine. He searched England, Belgium and Germany and amassed an elegant selection of beers: Samuel Smith, Ayinger and Orval among them.

Around the same time, New Yorker Don Feinberg encountered the beers of Belgium. With a newly minted MBA, Feinberg had moved to Brussels to take a marketing job. The story is told that his Belgian colleagues invited the newbie American for after-work beers one Friday. As a prank, they plied him with Duvel, a golden ale of 8.5 percent alcohol, while they ordered regular beers half that strength for themselves. Feinberg proved a good sport as the butt of a joke -- and he also developed a lasting connection to the beer.

Feinberg and his wife, Wendy Littlefield, ultimately left the world of marketing to set up a business importing Duvel into the United States for the first time. Their growing portfolio of beers opened the eyes -- and palates -- of Americans to the flavor possibilities of beer.

What Finkel, Feinberg and Littlefield all have in common is their concentration on beer and food -- or even on beer as food. They may have been the first to stake their businesses on the complexity and sophistication of beer, and its compatibility with the best in food.

Don Feinberg made a lightning visit to the Triangle last week, and took a group of guests on a brief tour of some of his brands. Introducing the session, he summed up his own passions: "I prefer nuance over power, I prefer dry over sweet, and I prefer the unexpected over the expected."

He began the tasting with fruited and spiced beers. These included two examples of lambic beer, which probably has the most challenging profile of any beer style. Whereas most brewers carefully control which microorganisms invade their beer, lambic brewers open the windows of the brewery to the elements, and the beer is fermented by wild yeast and bacteria. The finished lambic may contain 500 strains of microorganisms, Feinberg noted. The result is incredibly complex, but it can also be extremely sour and musty, so many lambic makers produce versions softened with the addition of fruit.

We tasted two Boon Brewery lambics flavored with cherries. Brewer Frank Boon ages his lambic in large oak casks, producing a beautifully balanced brew that is dry, rather than acidic (the dominant characteristic of some other lambic brewers). Both beers are known as kriek (cherry) lambic, but the Oude (old) Kriek Cherry Lambic made with beer aged at least two years was the standout --almost winelike, tart and refreshing, and delicious with cheese.

Saisons, seasonal beers traditionally produced at farmhouse breweries, made up the next tasting group. Feinberg described Saison Dupont as "the country cousin of Duvel, with hayseed and suspenders." It is a strong, golden beer, spicy with house yeast flavors. But where Duvel is rounded and sophisticated, Saison Dupont is earthier -- and a superb food beer.

The beers of brewery Slaghmuylder are a mouthful in both pronunciation and flavor. Its beers are in the monastic tradition of the Trappist breweries, but since Slaghmuylder is a secular brewery, its beers are termed "abbey," not "Trappist." The Slaghmuylder Triple Abbey beer is deceptive. Most triples declare their alcohol more boldly, but this triple wears its strength lightly -- with a chiffony, light, lemony character, it doesn't drink like a strong beer at all.

Feinberg concluded with a set of beers he termed "ultra strong," containing more than 10 percent alcohol. The showstopper among these was a beer I may not get to taste again: the limited release Scaldis Prestige, an oak-aged beer from Dubuisson brewery in French-speaking Wallonia. Feinberg pronounced it "the finest marriage of alcohol and oak," where the time on the wood draws out the tannin and vanilla. The beer is smooth and rich, with a big mouth feel, and can hold its own with strong cheese.

Feinberg partnered with the brewers of Duvel to open the Belgian-style Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, N.Y. Although he and Littlefield are no longer associated with Duvel or Ommegang, they continue to provide American beer lovers with Belgian selections at the highest end of the beer market.

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