A lot of people believe that pairing food with drink means wine as pairing food with beer seems quite unsophisticated. But, this isn’t true at all. Once you start, you’ll find that your beer pairs well with a lot of food items instead of just hot wings and your local pub’s pizza. If truth be told, as compared to wine, beer is far more congenial for many foods.

Here, the science is putting the right beer with the right dish in order to create an inspiring dining experience instead of making conscious pairing, which is just a waste of time.

Beer Is Perfect For Food Pairings, Here’s Why!

In fact, beer is quite forgiving. It might be tricky to hit upon a pairing with extremely negative effects; a problem that usually comes up too often with one in considering food and wine. Exceptions such as no fish with red wine rule just don’t exist when it comes to pairing with beer.

Moreover, while looking at the growth of beer; thanks to the craft beer revolution of recent years, you have unlimited options to choose from. It’s quite possible that one brewer’s IPA might go well with a steak dinner, however, not quite as perfect as that of the brewer down the street. The beer world is vast that makes the potential for finding great beer, food pairings a never-ending pursuit.

When it comes to the beer and food pairing, you should know ‘The Three C’s’ rule (compliment contrast and cleanse).

The Three C's Rule of Food & Beer Pairing

Complement – Let’s start with the compliment in which you have to choose the beer with a similar profile as that of a dish.

• For instance, if it’s a fruity or sweet dessert, then you should go for a pale beer brewed with the fruit like a Belgian raspberry beer (framboise lambic) or an apricot wheat beer.
• If you’re going to have a grilled steak at dinner, then you should go for beers with similar flavours such as porter or a rauchbier to make the perfect combination.

Contrast –You can also contrast beer’s flavour against the dish which could be more satisfying and memorable.

• You can pair up an Indian dish or spicy Thai with a sweet and subtle American wheat. This pairing could balance out some of the hot meal flavors.
• If you’re having mild meals such as the traditional Thanksgiving turkey, you can pair it with flavor-filled brown ale or Oktoberfest, which has taken out from beer fridges.

Cleanse – Now comes the easy part because carbonation makes some beers ideal choice to cleanse out the palate. When it comes to the rich and fatty foods like barbeque and pizza, they made the best pairing with pilsners due to the carbonation. Just think of the beer’s cleansing role similar to serving a refreshing sorbet between the meals. It has entirely changed the purpose of beer from being just a beverage with cleansing the mouth.

• Sour beers such as Berliner Weisse, Flanders Red and numerous Belgium brews works well in this role.