Pairing Beer with Food

SOPHIE BLOG – JUNE 3, 2016

PAIRING BEER WITH FOOD

Dorothy Parker once said: “That woman speaks 18 languages and she can’t say “no” in any of them”. I like to consider myself in that category when it comes to being offered a beer. There are so many to choose from these days, and I find myself saying “yes please!” to each one that’s conveniently placed in front of me.

It may be that the way beer lends itself to a variety of flavours has resulted in the growing trend of beer and food pairings. After all, beer may be more food-friendly than wine. Think about it…in my last post I talked about the “Fab Four” of beer – barley, water, hops, and yeast. Each one of these components can add a distinctive flavour to the beer. Incorporating additional ingredients like herbs, spices, chocolate, or fruits, further enhances the unique experience on your taste buds. Compare that to wine’s single ingredient – grapes. Okay wine drinkers, perhaps two “ingredients” if you count the flavour of a wooden cask. The point is, the complexity of flavours in beer can go well with a variety of foods. So how best to experiment with a selection of your local craft brews by introducing them at the dinner table?

There are some general guidelines when thinking about beer and food pairings. The most basic rule of thumb suggests matching lighter foods (e.g., salads, grains, shellfish) with lighter-style beer (lagers, pilsners, wheat beers), and heavier dishes (e.g. red meats, desserts, heavy cheeses) with darker beers (e.g., brown ales or stouts). As you get more experience, you can start to note that the dominant flavours in food can be affected by the type of protein (e.g., red meat vs. pork), accompanied sauce (cream vs. broth) or cooking method (grilling vs. braising), and these will drive your beer selection. For example, the acidity of a sour beer can enhance the salty smokiness of a smoked trout recipe, while the bitterness of an IPA might go nicely with a blue-cheese potato salad.

There are a few “classic” beer and food pairings that beer lovers and Cicerones (beer tasting professionals) frequently recommend to explore the way matching a beer with a specific dish enhances the flavours of each. These includeBarleywine and Stilton cheese; Märzen and Bratwurst; Dry Stout and Raw Oysters; Wheat Beer and Salad with Vinaigrette; IPA and Carrot Cake. For a more detailed review of these pairings, check out Mike Reis’s article on Serious Eats.com (

Bottom line, matching beer flavours to food flavours is all about personal preference. Just remember this motto – “while a fine beer may be judged by one sip, it is best to be thoroughly sure!”