This time of year, many of the dishes I’m hankering for come with more backbone and richness than the zestier and crunchier offerings of summer.

It’s also my favorite time of year to explore beer styles of a richer, maltier nature. One such craft brew style to consider is American barley wine, especially since winter is the perfect time of year to drink this strong, robust, intense brew.

There are folks who like to say that this beer is “too big” for food, or at the very least too overwhelming of a brew to embrace a wide culinary range. But I strongly disagree. Sure, the flavor profile is extreme, thanks to its high malt content, which typically has been boiled and reduced to a rich essence of caramelized burnt-sugar flavors prior to the brewing process.

There’s also an extreme level of hops, which tempers the sweetness about midway through the tasting experience. So on my palate, everything comes out nicely balanced.

Rich and flavorful to be sure, with a high alcohol content in relation to other beers, barley wines are actually quite food-friendly. You just have to know which food.

For example, the most classic pairing with barley wine is Stilton cheese. It’s a lovely match. Two extreme flavors joining forces. Of course, by following through with the blue cheese concept, you’ll land on such simple fare as Buffalo wings, which would bring blue cheese to the party in the form of a tasty dip.

Additionally, consider a platter of salami, huntsman cheese (which is layerings of Stilton and Double Gloucester), marinated kalamata olives and roasted Marcona almonds.

Another absolutely winning combination that I discovered by accident last summer is American barley wine and freshly cooked artichokes. It can be a real challenge to find an inspired beverage pairing for those big thistles. But the malty sweetness in the beer latches on to the inherent sweetness in this wonderful orb to produce an amazing caramel sensation.

American barley wines also go well with a number of sweet offerings, including creme brulee and a nutty-figgy panforte.

You may already be aware of Deschutes Brewery’s collaboration with Rogue Ales and North Coast Brewery to produce three interpretations of the barley wine style.

Brewers traveled to each other’s locations and teamed up to brew all three. Each breweries’ Class of ’88 Barley Wine Style Ale, commemorates the year all three breweries were founded. The ales were released nationwide in March of 2013.

Other West Coast breweries producing American barley wine are Hopwork’s Boomstick, Bridgeport’s Old Knucklehead, Rogue’s XS Old Crustacean, Sierra Nevada’s Big Foot, Lagunita’s Olde Gnarlywine, and — if you can find it — Ninkasi’s Critical Hit.

If you decide to explore American barley wines this winter, here are a few recipes to heighten the experience.

— Jan Roberts-Dominguez is a Corvallis food writer, cookbook author and artist. Contact: janrd@proaxis.com.