No-cook food and beer pairing US style
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American craft beer is the perfect partner for many foods – hot, cold, cooked or raw. This guide looks at pairing beer with no-cook food like cheese, charcuterie and chocolate, which work perfectly with the wide flavour spectrum of American craft beer.
Here’s why:
– the acidity, carbonation and bitterness of beer cuts through fat
– malt found in beer complements creamy, nutty, earthy or caramel flavours and contrasts with salt
– ingredients used in American craft beer (especially carbonation and alcohol) can alter the texture of both the rind and the paste of cheese and provide complementary and/or contrasting flavours for each.
Remember:
– cheese, like beer, should be served at the correct temperature. Take the cheese out of the fridge and let it warm to room temperature before pairing. Keep beer at the correct temperature for the style
– match intensities. Delicate, lighter, American craft beers often pair well with young or mild cheeses, while stronger flavoured brews tend to work better with full-flavoured, mature cheeses. The same applies to cold meats
– look for common ground. For example, a malty craft beer pairs well with a nutty cheese, while a hoppy, bitter beer cuts through cheese or salami with a high fat content
– think about other sensations and interactions such as a salty cheese with a hop-forward beer
– charcuterie refers to smoked, cured or cooked meats and generally involves salting (preserving) and air-drying, and this effects how they interact with beer
– palate balancers – nuts, dried fruits, fresh fruit, honey and pickled items all make great additions to a pairing platter.
Cheese pairings:
|
CHEESE |
BEER |
|
|
Soft cheese |
Wheat beer, lambic-style beer |
Cheeses like mascarpone, ricotta, mozzarella or goats cheese match the delicate notes of the beer without overwhelming the palate |
|
Semi-soft cheese |
Kolsch, pilsner, pale ale |
Cambozola, reblochon etc can be enhanced by a high level of carbonation. A salty cheese like feta, Caerphilly or Wensleydale needs a thirst-quenching, refreshing style to combat its dryness |
|
Hard cheese |
Brown ale, Imperial stout, bock |
Cheddar, gruyere, emmental, parmesan, manchego etc echo the nutty, earthy notes of a brown ale or stout. These beers add creaminess on the palate to a hard cheese |
|
Blue cheese |
IPA or Imperial IPA, barley wine |
Strongly flavoured cheeses such as roquefort, stilton, St Agur, Danish blue etc can be successfully balanced with bolder beer styles |
|
Natural rind cheese |
Golden/blonde ale, |
Brie, camembert etc have a rich creamy base that can be refreshed with a golden, blonde or pale ale |
|
Washed rind cheese |
Belgian-style ale |
Vacherin, taleggio, Port Salut, Stinking Bishop etc. Beer brings out the cheese’s delicate sweet note and can cut through the funk of the washed rind |
Cold-cuts, smoked meats and charcuterie pairings:
|
CUT |
|
BEER |
|
Prosciutto di Parma (pork) |
A classification of ham from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Known for its umami flavour |
Pilsner, doppelbock or saison |
|
Bresaola (beef) |
Dark red cut of beef thinly sliced. One of the leanest cured meats |
Brown ale |
|
Speck (pork) |
Smoked, cured meat, milder and firmer in texture than prosciutto |
Smoked beer, American pale ale |
|
Saucisson sec (pork) |
A French-style salami. Typically dry-cured and rich in flavour |
Robust porter |
|
Chorizo (pork) |
A distinctive bright red colour due to the addition of smoked paprika |
Smoked beer, pilsner |
|
Mortadella (pork) |
Cooked sausage made from ground pork meat, garnished with pistachios and small cubes of fat for extra flavour |
Belgian style trappist ale |
|
Salami piccante (pork) |
Can be spicy to mild. Spiced with paprika and hot to mild red peppers known as peperoni |
Imperial IPA |
|
Pâté |
Usually made from ground pork, duck or chicken liver and spices |
Stout |
Chocolate pairings:
|
White chocolate |
Creamy texture, usually contains 20 per cent cocoa butter, sugar and 14 per cent mild solids. Does not taste like other chocolates because it doesn’t contain dry cocoa solids |
Witbier, brown ale, sweet stout, fruited wheat beers |
|
Milk chocolate |
Usually around 35-45 per cent cacao solids. Sweet, mild taste |
American pale, brown or amber ales |
|
Dark chocolate |
At least 35 per cent cacao solids but commonly above 70 per cent. Intense, bittersweet taste |
Robust porter, Imperial stout, dubbel, lambic |
|
Look out for beers with speciality ingredients such as coffee, chocolate, peanut butter, salted caramel and many more that offer endless pairing possibilities with chocolate. |
||
Bottle or can-conditioned American craft beer is available from select pubs and bars or online retailers such as Athletic Brewing, Sierra Nevada shop, Beers of Europe, Beer Merchants.com.
Lotte Peplow is the Brewers Association American Craft Beer ambassador for Europe.
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