The Beer & Food Pairing Formula

Almost everyone who shows up to learn about beer wants to learn pairing. It is also one of the hardest skills in beer. In this long video Matthew and I sit down and walk through the formula I have taught for more than a decade, plus Matthew's reverse version of it. We are both Advanced Cicerones, so we also talk about how pairing shows up on the exams.

Why beer beats wine at the table

Most people think of wine first. In the beer world the general opinion is that beer pairs better. Beer gives you far more flavors to work with, with more ingredients and more techniques. The grain is cooked, so many beer flavors resemble the flavors in food. Beer also brings a wider range of intensity, basic tastes and textures. Then there is carbonation, which nearly every beer has and wine usually does not. It is a huge advantage when you want to refresh the palate.

Step 1 is matching intensity

If the beer and the dish are far apart in intensity, the pairing fails. It does not matter how well the flavors would have matched. Cooking method, herbs and spices all push a dish up. In beer it is bitterness, malt, fermentation flavor, alcohol warmth, body and hop character.

Put a light salad next to a barleywine and the barleywine flattens it. Flip it around with a flourless chocolate cake and a Schwarzbier. Dark color fools people, but Schwarzbier is a very light lager. The flavors lean the right way, yet the beer gets wiped out. If you are writing an essay answer on a Cicerone exam, always state the intensity match first.

The three Cs

Complement. Look for a flavor or aroma bridge, which can be matchy matchy or just a combination that always shows up together. Flourless chocolate cake usually comes with fruit, so I like a big fruited beer that replaces the compote. Lindemans fruited lambic is one of my secret weapons for tastings. It is backsweetened, which lifts it to the intensity the cake needs.

Contrast. This is the hardest step and where the best pairings live. Work with the basic tastes. The Lindemans is balanced by acidity instead of bitterness, so its sourness cuts across the sweet, heavy cake and keeps your palate from wearing out. Matthew's picture is a fatty taco with lime squeezed over it. Bitterness is the contrast tool beer geeks have and wine people do not. Every beer has some hop bitterness to work with, even a balanced or slightly sweet one.

Cut. Cutting is mouthfeel rather than taste. Carbonation does most of it. Even a low-carbonation English cask ale has plenty. Acidity, dryness, bitterness, alcohol and roast all help too. Matthew pointed out that an imperial stout works with the cake in both directions. The alcohol warmth calms the sweetness. The sweetness calms the warmth.

One warning. These pairings are theory until you taste them. I assumed a dry, sour gueuze would give maximum contrast with the cake. It fails. The extra sweetness in the Lindemans is exactly what makes it work.

Matthew's reverse method

For everyday pairing, Matthew starts with the beer and the three Cs. He asks what cutting, complementing and contrasting elements the beer has. He writes them down. Then he rates the intensity and goes looking for a dish that fits.

His example is a Belgian Dubbel. Higher carbonation and alcohol warmth cut fat and sweetness. Toffee, plum, raisin, clove, mint and Maillard browning give him flavors to match. The sweetness needs acidity, bitterness or salt as contrast. He rates it medium high on intensity. I agree.

The dish he landed on is fish and chips with malt vinegar and mushy peas made with a little mint. The carbonation cuts the fried batter. The mint and the malt vinegar complement the beer. The vinegar and salt contrast its sweetness. If the dish overpowers the beer, you can poach the fish or skip the peas. If it is too timid, you can add tartar sauce. Sometimes a different producer of the same style is the fix.

Which exams test pairing

Pairing is not tested on the first level of the Cicerone program. It gets tested a bit at the second level, which is the Certified Cicerone exam. At the third level, the Advanced Cicerone exam, you need to know your stuff. A step-by-step formula gives you an outline you can write out under pressure.

We close by talking about using pairings to win people over. A blue cheese with an English barleywine, or chocolate and salty pretzels with a Flanders red, can change the mind of someone who says they do not like beer.

Watch the video above for the full conversation. Use the chapters to jump to the step you need. Matthew and I also taste beer with students every week and often finish with a pairing exercise. Join us in the Beer Scholar community on Skool, or start with the Certified Cicerone course.

Cheers! –Chris