Beer and food matching

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Posted at 10:37AM, 19 October 2009 by Katy Greenwood - Food writer

Up until a few weeks ago I would have said that I'm not much of a beer drinker - maybe I'd have some with a curry, or a lager and lime on a hot day - but that's all changed recently thanks to a couple of unusual beer tasting sessions.

I was invited to a beer and food matching event aimed only at women, in an attempt to not only get the ladies to drink more ale, but also to show us chicks that there is much more to beer than just a pint of Fullers. We were talked through how beer is made, the different ways it can be flavoured and the different processes that it can be brewed by. So far, so over my head, but then we got down to tasting and my taste buds did some talking that I understood!

I'd always thought fruit beers were a bit of a gimmick just for girls

We got through beers brewed with yeast left over from champagne brewing (served in champagne flutes indeed), American microbrew beers that somehow tasted like orange though no orange was used anywhere in the brewing process, and of course fruit flavoured beers. I'd always thought fruit beers were a bit of a gimmick just for girls, but in fact they're massively popular, especially in Belgium - where men drink them too!

What I enjoyed most though was the beer and pudding matching session. I was sceptical about it, as I thought that only lovely sweet wines like Sauternes or Tokaji really go well with puds. Again though, my eyes were opened! Not every match was great, but I absolutely loved the pairing or Fruili raspberry beer with a rich chocolate fondant. It was such a great combination, the sweet sharpness of the beer cutting through the rich bitterness of the chocolate, but neither flavour erasing the other. Without doubt, this is a pairing I would repeat. Another great match was the spotted dick with Blue Moon (the orange flavoured American microbrew). These married well, the beer bringing out the flavour of the fruit, and it was even good when the pud was covered in custard!

Since being educated I've really started to get into beers and even found a favourite: Samuel Smith's Organic Raspberry beer, brewed in Yorkshire, good in't pub and even better with a chocolate fondant for pud!

What do you think? Could you stomach beer and pudding, or is it only a match for curry or a packet of crisps?

Comments

flubbles1982

19 October 2009, 7:00PM
flubbles1982

Oh I love beer and food. There are some brilliant beers out there. Bacchus is a particularly nice Rasberry Beer. There is a great pub in Clapham called the Bierodrome and it has to be visited full of foreign beers and you can try some great food too. I think it is part of the Belgo group, i.e. beer and moules frites!

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sioden

19 October 2009, 9:53PM
sioden

I went to the Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland (www.greatlakesbrewing.com) over the weekend and had their Bourbon Barrel Aged Blackout Stout. It came in brandy style glasses and was IMMENSE. The best drink ever. But it was 9% so not wise to drink more than a few brandy glasses. I imagine that would compliment a rich chocolate pudding or even cheese. delicious!!!

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Lola

20 October 2009, 7:21AM
Lola

I've never been a beer drinker, preferring white wine with everything. However these fruit beers sound very intriguing when paired with food and I'm going to give it a try. Will report back with my opinion anon!

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Nicola

20 October 2009, 8:13AM
Nicola

My fiance and I love trying different beers and for our engagement party we decided to have a real ale party - we invited loads of friends and requested they bring some real ale, cider or perry with them. We tasted some really great ones! My favourites were the Scots pine Ale (really sweet, but quite strong at 7.5%!) and Innes and Gunn which is just fantastic - it tastes a bit like vanilla toffee....both of those would easily go with a pudding!

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DNA

20 October 2009, 10:48AM
DNA

Havn't actully tried a beer with a pudding yet, but sounds interesting so may have to give it a go sometime. I imagine that Spitfire might be a good one, since it is meant to have a toffee taste & honey ones might be good also. Just have to say I don't get what Olive was raving about with Punk IPA from Brewdog, tasted just like a very strong lager to me, and I tend to drink Wytchwood beer, so I do have an idea on what a real ale should taste like.

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kristym809

24 October 2009, 9:01AM
kristym809

Hi Charlotte, sounds really tasty, especially the Frulli and chocolate fondant! As this has awoken your love of beer, thought you might be interested in BitterSweet Partnership, which is an initiative I work for which was set up by Molson Coors (UK) to address the fact that the UK beer industry has traditionally ignored women (resulting in some of the lowest beer sales in Europe among women in the UK). Beer and food matching with women is one of a number of things were working on and weâve had a really positive response so far for our sessions, from women who thought beer was something theyâd never consider drinking. Our website is at www.bittersweetpartnership.com - weâd love to know what you think!

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Lola

25 October 2009, 9:06AM
Lola

I bought the Sam Smith's strawberry beer. Really delicious just to quaff on its own but I drank it with sticky parkin drizzled with a buttery creamy treacly sauce. The beer counterbalanced the treacly sweetness perfectly. A match made in Yorkshire. Yer learn summat new every day!

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Mark,Real-Ale-Reviews.com

13 January 2010, 10:55AM
Mark,Real-Ale-Reviews.com

Men definitely drink fruit beers too, me and my beer widow always grab a few krieks from the beer shop when I'm stocking up!! I would argue that beer is a good if not better partner for food than wine often and that the diversity of beers styles means there's usually a beer to go with most dishes. A light pale ale is usually great with curry, enough to cut the flavours but not too bitter to enrage your tongue. Similarly a black lager works well (a bit like milk to your hot thai green curry). Chocolate stouts with chocolate treats and vintage ales with strong cheeses are great luxuries for sharing. And the large bottles of lambic beers can be great for a party and nibbles too. Lola - Sam Smith's do a cherry version also which tastes just like cherry bakewells (no almonds used though), it's great! DNA - best pudding match I've found is Flying Dog's Gonzo Stout with a rich chocolate pudding - sublime, try it if you can!

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Earnalot

7 August 2010, 10:58AM
Earnalot

People who think beer cannot compliment food probably have only tasted the rubbish mass produced beers that do not compliment anything. If you think beer does not compliment food you should learn more about beer.

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