Beer and food, what are the best pairings?

When you go out to eat, it's normal for a restaurant to have an extensive wine list. An extensive beer list, on the other hand, is less common, but fortunately becoming more and more so. Beer actually pairs very well and sometimes even better with food than wine. There are even restaurants that now employ a beer sommelier in addition to their wine sommelier. Together, they can create a wonderful dining experience with beers (and wines, if you absolutely must). But you can also create great beer and food pairings at home.

Fuck Wine!

The presence of wine sommeliers in (fine dining) restaurants often has to do with tradition and status. Wine has long been associated with sophistication, while beer was once considered less prestigious. But this image has changed! Nowadays, there are beer geeks who gladly buy a can of beer for 15 euros. An IPA or stout can, after all, offer a rich taste experience that you don't always find in a Sauvignon Blanc or Rioja from the supermarket. Especially when you combine the beer with a meal.

Beer can go excellently with food. In many cases, beer pairs with more dishes and flavors than wine. As an aperitif, with meat and fish, with desserts, and even as a digestif. This is because wine offers a specific taste experience, but beer offers a wide range of flavors derived from malt, hops, yeast, and sometimes even the water, plus any other ingredients the brewer adds.

Carbonation and food

One of the reasons why beer pairs better with food than wine is that beer contains carbonation. With every sip, it cleanses your palate. And an acidic beer also removes flavors even more, which also cleanses. And, not unimportantly, an acidic beer also easily 'cuts through' fat: so sour beers and fatty dishes go well together. A sour beer with a frikandelletje mayo is therefore an excellent combination.

A second reason why beer pairs better is that beer can have roasted and hoppy flavors. That roasted taste is very pleasant with many different dishes: from roasted meat and roasted vegetables, to chili con (or sin) carne. The fruitiness and bitterness of the hops often work well with pizzas or spicy Asian food. Be careful though: the bitterness of the hops can also enhance the spiciness of the dish.

Intensity

To combine beer with food, there are some basic principles you need to know (also fun for at home!). You need to match the intensity of the dish and the beer. So, with a white fish, you can easily serve a Weizen. Of course, it also depends a bit on how you season your fish. And on the other end of the spectrum: with spicy spareribs, you can serve a somewhat heavier, spicier beer, such as a tripel or a barley wine.

Flavor Hooks

We just mentioned that the herbs you use in your dish determine which beer you serve with it. You can create flavor hooks by serving beers that contain herbs also present in your dish. Or vice versa: use the herbs from the beer to season your dishes. This enhances the flavor. It does mean you have to taste the beers to see how strong that flavor is in the beer. It's always smart to test each dish and its corresponding beer at least once.

You can also try working with contrasting flavors. A beautiful steak from the BBQ, with a good crust, has roasted and caramel flavors. This can go very well with a sour and fruity beer. The intensity of the flavors of the meat and the beer remain distinct. A classic example of contrasting flavors is an oyster with a stout: the saltiness of the oyster tastes delicious with the roasted and chocolate flavors of the stout.

Do you want to buy a package where you get beers for different dishes? Then check out our BBQ package.

Combining beer and food yourself 

If you're going to play with combining beer and food at home, it also needs to look good. Few people will have a matching beer glass for all guests. Fortunately, beer tastes fine from a wine glass, and we often have a set of those at home. Pick a white wine glass, because you don't need to pour a whole bottle or can of beer per person. You want people to taste the beer with the dish, so half a bottle (approx. 15 cl) is enough to experience the taste sensation. Or make sure you get some tasting glasses.

All beers can be combined with one dish or another, including our beers. If we look at the flavor intensity of our beers, there are a number of beers that go well with light dishes such as a Caesar salad, fish dishes, or light cheeses: for example, our non-alcoholic beers, or the Witzige Weizen.

We have many hoppy beers and they pair well with many dishes, but you have to taste what goes with what. Pizzas and IPA are a thing, but which pizza belongs with which IPA? The fruitiness of hops often pairs with the savoriness of salami and ham, while the bitterness goes well with sweet ingredients like pineapple and cherry tomatoes. And if you like spicy, then you grab a bitter IPA like Hop Art with a pepperoni or 'nduja pizza.

As a final category, we have our dark beers. Bock beer tastes good with a stew, as does a quadrupel, by the way. Stouts are delicious desserts on their own, but also tasty with a creamy cheesecake. Or a cheese board with a nice blue cheese. And a quadrupel also goes well with that. Plenty of choice. If you find a nice pairing, let us know!