Tips for Pairing Beer with Food
Introduction by Mark Tumarkin

The holiday season is upon us, time for all those gatherings of family and friends around tables piled high with food and drink. With a little thought and planning the food and beer (what other drink could we be talking about?) can be paired in complimentary ways. The following two articles are from the Beer Break Mail, a newsletter from the Real Beer Page. http://www.realbeer.com/

Just think of these ideas as a guide or starting place; as always, trust your taste first.

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BASIC TIPS FOR PAIRING BEER AND FOOD

It's time to "talk turkey" when discussing pairing food and beer. This week
we'll offer a few guidelines and one timely example. Next week we'll send you
Beer Break a day early, on Wednesday, and enough pairing tips to help you
make it through the holiday season.

In his new book, The Premium Beer Drinker's Guide, Stephen Beaumont writes
"for certain gastronomic needs, absolutely nothing beats a good premium
beer." Beaumont then offers "four handy hints for general beer and food
matching. They won't guarantee your results, but they will minimize the
risk." Our thanks to him for allowing us to pass along his tips:

1. Think of Ale as Red Wine and Lager as White Wine
In other words, when red meat or any dish that you would normally pair with
red wine is on the menu, select an ale to serve with it. Conversely, if the
main course is fish or poultry, try a lager.

2. Hoppiness in Beer = Acidity in Wine
Anytime that you would seek a wine with high acidity -- such as with spicy or
oily food -- choose a beer with significant hoppiness, or bitterness. The
more acidic you would want the wine, the hoppier you will want the beer.

3. Complement or Contrast
Try to match foods to beer with complementary characters, such as a robust
stew with a full-bodied ale. Or try a contrasting flavor, such as a crisp,
refreshing lager with a heavy cream soup.

4. Keep the Beer Sweeter than the Dessert
Nothing kills the flavor of a beer like the overpowering sweetness of a
dessert, so try to keep the sugar contents of both beer and dessert balanced.
(Exceptions to this rule can be made for chocolate, which pairs well even
with dry stout.)

For more about information about the book:

     http://worldofbeer.com/features/feature-200009.html

Now, about that turkey. You don't have to settle for a Riesling,
Gewurztraminer, or Chenin Blanc -- white wines traditionally suggested to
serve with fowl. There are beers that will suit you just fine. An Oktoberfest
(also known as Marzen) or Vienna-style lager work very well. The
malt-accented flavors pair well with the sweet white meat, while these beers
have enough body to stand up to dark meat and moist nutty stuffing.
 



PAIRING BEER AND FOOD: PUTTING BEER FIRST

Last week we provided some basic tips on pairing food and beer. This week
we'll get more specific about pairings. However, let's keep our priorities in
order. Instead of picking a dish and then the appropriate beer, we'll start
with the beer and go from there:

Golden or blonde ale, American wheat ale, lightly hopped lagers: Since these
beers lack both maltiness and hoppiness, they work best as thirst-quenchers.
Try them with super-hot food, such as blackened redfish. Once your tongue has
been assaulted with hot spices, it will no longer be able to appreciate an
intricately flavored beer, anyway. 

Weissbier, dunkelweiss: You want to be able to enjoy the flavors of the
yeast, so stick with delicate foods, such as soup or pasta or light cheeses.
These beers also work well with lightly flavored vegetarian dishes, such as
grilled vegetables, or light chicken dishes. 

Amber ale: A good all-around beer for any food that isn't sweet -- something
sweet will detract from the maltiness in the beer. It complements sandwiches,
hearty soups and pizzas. Also a good thirst-quencher for barbecue or Mexican
food. 

Bitter, pale ale, India pale ale, German/Bohemian pilsners: Although hops can
kill your tastebuds when paired with many foods, they do make for some
particularly good matches -- fried seafood, for example, because hoppiness
cuts through grease, or anything with vinegar as a main ingredient. They also
complement smoked, boiled, steamed or broiled seafood. And they can enhance
the spiciness of highly spiced cuisine. The fruitier pale ales also will
complement lamb, beef and game, or try them with liver pate. 

English or American brown ale: Hamburgers and sausages are hearty enough for
either kind of ale. The English brown may match nicely with smoked fish,
while game dishes can stand up to the hoppiness of the American brown. 

Porter, dry or oatmeal stout: Think hearty foods -- meat dishes with gravy,
barbecue, shepherd's pie, stew. Oysters are also ideal. Both these beers and
brown ales will stand up to stronger cheeses such as sharp cheddar and blue. 

Cream or sweet stout, imperial stout: These are made for chocolate, and
imperial stout pairs especially well with dark chocolate. Also try
chocolate-and-fruit desserts, such as stout cheesecake with raspberry sauce,
or something with caramel or pecans. 

Vienna lager/Oktoberfest/Maerzen, dark lager, bock: Like amber ale, these are
good all-around food beers, and they're not as filling as ales. The lagers
will cut some of the heaviness in sauce-based meat dishes -- chicken
paprikash, goulash or pork rouladen, for example -- and will stand up to
their strong flavors. The perfect beers to serve with pretzels and mustard.
Sweeter bocks, such as doppelbocks, can complement heartier, spicier
desserts, such as pumpkin pie or spice cake. 

Fruit beers, lambics: Sweeter fruit beers and fruit lambics can be paired
with light fruit desserts, such as souffles or chiffon cake, but sour ones
will probably overwhelm fruit flavors. Some people like to drink lambics with
dark chocolate. Entrees that are prepared with fruit - for example,
raspberry-glazed duck breast -- can pair nicely with fruit beers. Consider
enjoying these alone at the end of the meal.

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