Does the Beer Match the Food?

Over at BitterSweet we recently conducted a study called Love Beer, in order to help better understand women’s drinking behaviours and preferences. Our research unveiled that an overwhelming 76% of women surveyed, said that they prefer to drink wine with food.

This may not come as a huge surprise, after all using wine to compliment food has been a long tradition, and most of us know the basic rules (white with chicken and fish, red with beef) but does everyone know how to match beer with food in the same way?

In restaurants sommelier’s often help guests find the right wine to drink with their meals. This clearly indicates that education around wine has resulted in it being the more popular choice to pair with food despite the fact that many wines are limited by the relatively short range of flavours available and their relatively high alcohol content.

But it's fair to say that most people think that wine is the ultimate drink for pairing with food, like Szechuan chicken, braised lamb chops or even something as simple as a burger. But the complexity of beer flavours is much broader than any other drink and actually pairs well with these all of these foods, including cheese and chocolate! The beer's carbonation lifts the fats and flavours of cheeses off the palate, allowing for a fuller appreciation and sensory experience. Which is why for many years beer was the main match for food in Western Europe and there are still many countries such as the Czech Republic, Germany and Belgium where beer is chosen ahead of wine to accompany any meal.

So why do we not see Beer Menus more often in the UK to help customers pick a beer to match some of the great food we serve in pubs? Menus that offer a range of beers to pair with different foods - you wouldn't expect to see just one wine on a menu so here at BitterSweet we'd love to see a range of beers perfectly matched with the food menu. After all what beats a nice porter with a rib eye steak, seafood with a wheat beer or a rich Kriek with chocolate cheesecake??

Do you think that beer menus in pubs could help customers make more educated food parings and have more people opting for beer with their meal?