Food pairing not just a game reserved for wine enthusiasts

Wine gets all the credit.

It’s thought of as a sophisticated beverage, meant for those with discerning palates, possessed of the kind of delicate flavors that nothing else can touch — certainly not thing you’d say about beer. 

Not only is that notion incorrect, it’s responsible for beer being thought of as a lesser drink. Nowhere does this come through more than in the idea that wine is the perfect libation to pair with food and that beer is simply too overpowering, or worse not good enough, to go with your favorite dish.

Beer does indeed complement food, and not just in the way that a Bud Light washes down a hot dog or fried chicken. It’s complex and varied enough in flavor to go with anything, be it greasy ballpark food, a perfectly cooked steak, a piece of fish or even dessert. That’s not to say that every beer goes with everything. Far from it. Just as a red wine would overwhelm a delicate fish preparation such as grouper or halibut and a white might not stand up to a steak, some thought must be applied to the pairing of food with beer. 

The key to successfully pairing any beverage to a dish is to strike a balance. It can’t overpower the dish with its own flavor, but must stand out at the same time. It should help bring out other flavors in the food and, likewise, the food should help accent some of the drink’s more subtle notes. How does one do this? Well, here are a few handy guidelines to keep in mind.

A light dish wants a lighter beer to go with it. For example, a serving of pasta with springtime vegetables would benefit from being paired with an easy drinking pale ale or a good pilsner. Something like Victory’s Prima Pils or Stone’s Pale Ale would fit the bill nicely here without making themselves the focal point of the meal. Additionally, any dish featuring a savory citrus component or a sharp green like arugula would go nicely with such beers.

Fish, excluding hardier varieties like tuna or swordfish, also demand a lighter beer. A gentle wheat beer such as Harpoon UFO or Weihenstephaner Original would go well. A Kolsch would not go amiss, either. Try Sam Adams’ new Escape Route or, if you can get your hands on it, Kolsch 151 by Blue Mountain Brewing Co.

A steak or meatier cut of pork wants a big beer. Try a brown ale such as Indian Brown Ale by Dogfish Head or a mildly hopped English bitter such as Fuller’s London Pride. For a pork dish, something big but a bit more gentle is required. Great Lakes Eliot Ness, a Vienna lager similar to Sam Adams’ Boston Lager, would do nicely. 

If a meat’s preparation is spicy — like lamb vindaloo, for example — you can’t go wrong with anything hoppy. The spicy hop notes will complement the dish well and should bring some of the beer’s sweeter notes to the forefront.

Finally, don’t overlook dessert, as it’s the perfect course for a dark beer to shine. Anything involving chocolate would be made all the better by a stout. Try Sam Smith’s Oatmeal Stout or Lancaster’s Milk Stout with that piece of chocolate cake or scoop of chocolate ice cream. Vanilla also goes well with dark beer, particularly because so many of them pack vanilla notes in their flavor profiles. Breckenridge Vanilla Porter would go well here, as it’s lighter in body than most stouts and would certainly accentuate the dessert’s flavor. Not feeling a stout or porter? No big deal. Ommegang’s Three Philosophers packs strong cherry notes as well as a boozy sweetness that make it ideal for most desserts, and a pretty good nightcap, as well. 

Next time you’re out on a date or cooking dinner with your significant other, skip the wine and try pairing that dish of yours with a good beer. You’ll be happy you did, and if nothing else, you might save a bit of money in the process. Bon appetit and drink up!