We all know people love to pair their favorite wine with certain foods. Red wine with red meat, white wine with seafood, Champagne with strawberries …or in my case, just Two-Buck Chuck with everything. But what about your beer?

Boston Beer enthusiasts can meet the defender of ‘beer with dinner,’ today on Newbury Street at Trident Booksellers & Cafe. There will be a reading and beer tasting with John Holl, author of The American Craft Beer Cookbook: 155 Recipes from Your Favorite Brewpubs and Breweries.

Holl’s cookbook covers 155 recipes that pair well with your favorite craft beers. According to John Holl’s website, the former New York Times reporter spent several years visiting “more than 900 breweries in the United States and across the world” to learn about the brewing process. He is now considered a beer connoisseur and an international beer judge, serving as the 2010, 2011, and 2012 Samuel Adams Long Shot Competition.

According to Sam Adams blog, Holl believes that despite most people’s inclination to serve wine with dinner, “beer brings so much more to food pairings.” But “one of the problems we have with beer is that people use words like ‘bitter’ to describe hops or use technical terms to describe flavors instead of describing the flavor of beer in food terms…”

He explains in Shore Magazine that “it’s more about the pairings, exploring and finding ways to bring a good meal together with good beer…if you think about the ingredients in beer and the flavors they produce: Malt — toffee, chocolate, coffee, caramel, toast, biscuit, grassy; Hops — citrus, pine, tropical fruit; Yeast — banana, clove, bubblegum, stone fruits and water which sometimes has minerals, you can begin to think about how specific foods can pair with beers.”

Holl also claims in his book that because there are “many different beer tastes,” beer is “actually more flexible than wine when it comes to creating the perfect pairing.” And in addition to recipes and pairing advice such as “brunch and beer,” the book also includes descriptions and photos of breweries and beer festivals.

If you’re intrigued, join John Holl from 7-8pm today for free beer and a free lecture. Hop to it.