British and Irish Beer and Food Matching
Understanding wine is a journey for life. The nuances, styles, and tastes are endless. Never mind food and wine matching; top restaurants throughout the UK now offer an addition to the wine list with beer and food-matching lists. If beer and food meant a pint of John Smiths Bitter and a meat pie - be prepared.
Drinking carefully chosen beer with food, as with wine and food, can elevate and enhance both the food and the taste of the beer. Beer has a wide and diverse range of flavor, which means there is a style to match any food – including dessert.
Drinking beer with food to some is less pretentious than wine and so well suits relaxed and informal dining and is less intimidating than wine.
As with wine, there are no fixed rules. If you find a combination you like then go with it.
As a rule of thumb:-
- Match like with like – lighter ales with lighter foods, and the richer stouts and porters with richer more dense foods.
- Bitter and Pale Ale – traditional beer loves traditional British food (steak pie, sausage and mash, shepherds pies, haggis and of course, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.
- Guinness and Stout is a good partner to traditional Irish Food (soda bread, oysters, meat pies, irish stew, colcannon).
- Stout and Porter also blossom with rich, dense fruity desserts, so perfect for the Christmas Pudding.
- Indian Pale Ales match well with mature cheeses and barbecue foods.
- As IPA was brewed to be exported to Indian it also matches very well with Indian dishes.
- Lager with lighter summery food, pasta and salads.
- Barley Wine and chocolate – a match made in heaven.
Note:
When serving wine with food, switch from the pint glass to smaller, red wine glasses work very well and look more elegant on the table.
