Get the low-down on the best recipes to match to your favourite craft beer with these insightful pairing notes from the experts behind The London Craft Beer Guide.
Over to you Brad and Jonny…
IPA & mature cheddar
Onion Tart with Rocket and Cheddar
A great IPA smacks you round the chops with big bitterness and fruity tang, just like a really good crumbly Cheddar. Together it’s a taste explosion.
Kriek & dark chocolate
Richard’s Black Forest Chocolate Fondants
This Belgian-style beer is aged in barrels over cherries to become brooding, complex and tart. With some dark chocolate you create a Black Forest Gateaux vibe that’s impossible to resist.
American Red Ale & steak
Epic Rib-Eye Steak
The only way to make a great steak better is to serve with a hoppy red ale. The caramel malts match the caramelised edges of the beef, while the hoppiness cleans the palate up for the next bite.
Witbier and white fish
Coconut Fish Curry (Fish Moilee)
This velvety wheat beer is made with orange peel and coriander to make it zesty and a little spicy, perfect to add depth to flaky white fish. If there are Indian spices involved, all the better.
Flemish and red duck
Slow-Roast Duck with Port & Cherry Sauce
Everyone knows duck and cherry were born to go together, and tart red ale with notes of balsamic, cherry and scrumpy cider is brilliant at adding sweet fruitiness while cutting right through the fatty meat.
American Pale Ale & curry spices
Man-up Caribbean Veg Curry and Fresh Roti
These hoppy beers were once shipped to India for the British occupants but their synergy with spice goes way further than that. The overripe fruits of a really hoppy pale is magic with the sweet, sour and spicy notes of a good curry.
Stout & blue cheese
Pickled Pear, Lentil and Gorgonzola Salad
Stouts and porters are the kings of the cheese board, going well with all but the softest of cheeses. Blue is where they really come into their own, bringing out the sweetness, softening the funk from the mould and leaving a glorious creamy, smoky note on the tongue.
British bitter & pork
Milk-roasted Pork with Cinnamon, Orange and Bay
There isn’t a beer in the world better suited to rich roasted pork and cracking. Bitters have the caramelised note from the malt, soft sweet stone fruits and a hoppy marmalade-like bitterness that’s perfect for sweet meat.
Berlinerweisse & cream
Macaroni Cheese
Sometimes a rich, creamy main needs something really light and tart to contrast and cleanse the palate. That’s what the Berlinerweisse does so well – it’s lemony and slightly sour, with a hint of sweetness to balance.
Lager & batter
Homemade Onion Rings
Like the joy of a pint of lager and a packet of crisps, if you’re deep frying something it needs to go with a lager, preferably something with a bit of bite like a German Helles or Czech Pilsner.
