Expert Beer Pairings
How to find your perfect match
Often viewed as more casual beverages than wine, lagers, IPAs and even ciders also have the potential to elevate every meal.
Beer is often seen as a less sophisticated libation than wine, despite the attention that craft brews receive. This is understandable when you think about the long history of many vineyards and producers, some having grown great wines through many generations. But beer is just as capable of highlighting and elevating the key flavours of a mouthwatering meal – whether around the braai, at a food-focused bar, or on your dinner table.
“People always think wine is the top pairing choice, but it’s actually quite hard to find a wine that beats a beer for pairing,” says J.C. Steyn, Head Brewer of Devil’s Peak Brewing Company. As evidence, he cites the many international pairing competitions in which beers have gone head-to-head with wines and emerged victorious.
Beers have two key ingredients that contribute flavour: hops and malt. Hops provide the bitter notes prevalent in an India Pale Ale (IPA), often indicated by the International Bitterness Units (IBU). Among J.C.’s favourites is the Devil’s Peak Good Hope Pale Ale, thanks to the fact that it is “high in hop content – high in flavour, without too much bitterness, and without being high in alcohol.” Malt, meanwhile, provides more of the sweet and even toasty flavours from certain beers and can be found in stouts, where they are roasted to give the drink its dark colour.
Follow these beer-pairing rules
When pairing beer with food, much like wine, there are three rules you should follow: contrast, complement, and cleanse. A good pairing should achieve one of these three effects, working alongside a specific aspect of the dish.
Lagers are the most popular choices, with the majority of commercially available beer falling into this category. Generally light and easy-drinking, they are a good match with red meat and their refreshing qualities cleanse the palate between bites. At Woolies, the Heineken 0.0 Alcohol-free and Devil’s Peak Hero Non-Alcoholic work well flavour-wise, in much the same way as their counterparts that do contain alcohol.
More bitter options such as IPAs and other ales can cut through fat on the palate, with the result that they pair well with pork or cheese dishes. Often noted for their complex and fruity flavour profile, they are also a good match for curries and braaied dishes.
Wheat beers are generally made with a mixture of wheat and barley grains, giving the final product a lighter colour and less carbonation. Erdinger Non-Alcoholic Wheat Beer serves as a great example of the flavour profile. These lighter beers go well with salads, bread, and pastries. Sometimes, wheat beers are infused with citrus or herbal flavour to give them extra depth. Expert advice from J.C. is to keep in mind that non-alcoholic beers are most likely to go well with simple summer meals: salad, seafood, and light chicken dishes.
Try a twist of citrus and a squeeze of apple
Devil’s Peak Hero Twist of Citrus Non-Alcoholic Beer and Little Wolf Virgin Apple Nectar both use fruit to add a little brightness to their flavours. The former, like many other citrus-flavoured drinks, pairs well with seafood and fish and also serves as a great way to cool off at the braai. The Little Wolf Virgin Apple Nectar uses hops to add depth to a base of Elgin apple juice, making for a complex and moreish taste that far outclasses most of the sweeter alternatives offered at bars or restaurants.
Follow the suggestions above, and you’ll succeed in finding new matches that improve your enjoyment of both beer and your favourite foods. Once you’ve developed a sense of what works and what doesn’t, you’re sure to see your pairings improve, and in the meantime, you get to enjoy good food and delicious dishes – all in the name of research, of course!