The beauty of pairing beer with food is that you don’t really need a sommelier to help you make your choices.  Really, taste is subjective and you don’t need a specialist to tell you what you think tastes good.  For soon-to-be-serious beer and food epicures, though, here are some suggestions on how to start your journey toward taste rewards.

You can start by thinking of beer and food combinations along the same lines as wines—by associating heavier ales with red wines and lighter lagers with white wines, for simplicity’s sake.  As a general rule, heavier red wines (and ales) will pair well with heavier foods, as lighter white wines (lagers) would with lighter foods.  Matching strength with strength in this manner will not allow the craft beer to overwhelm the food, or vice versa.

Another way to match foods and beer is to look for commonalities within a group.  These like characteristics will help you choose a good combination—sweet with sweet, nutty with nutty, tart with tart, hearty with hearty, and so on.  It is important to find balance, though, and to always try to make your beer the lesser of the flavors in the profile.  You want your beer to accent the food you are eating, not to overpower it.  Conversely, you have heard the saying “opposites attract?”  This holds true with beers and food as well.  Find those common traits and then switch it up with by contrasting flavors rather than complementing them.  Instead of pairing a spicy Thai dish with a spicy IPA, take a shot at a contrasting flavor, like spicy Pad Thai with a fruity hefeweizen.   And although a light pilsner well complements shellfish, a bitter stout can go a long way toward cutting down the sweetness of oysters or lobster.

When in doubt, you can also go regional.  After all, there is a reason Mexican brews pair well with fajitas or burritos, or German beers taste fantastic with bratwurst.   Development in the same region lends itself naturally to a winning combination.  However, you may limit yourself if you fall back on this standby method every time because a great Belgian blonde ale may be the perfect accompaniment to sushi, but how would you know that unless you ventured beyond the region?

Mostly, though, I would like to leave you with this advice:  because taste is subjective, what works for you may ultimately surprise you.  It’s okay to throw out all the rules and just experiment.  Follow your cravings and your mood of the day, and don’t be afraid to try pairing even the oddest of flavors.  Practice really does make perfect, and there is nothing more enjoyable than practicing with great craft brews and delicious foods.

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Now, though, wine pairing is much more than these generic matches.  While it is said that taste is subjective, there are quantifiable measures of taste that allow for pairing outside of the subjective flavors that are personal to the drinker.  Wine experts, then, seek to determine these tastes—bitter (tannins), sweet (residual sugar), and sour (acidity) components that are attributed to wines and subsequently used to match them with the foods they will most complement.  There is also a fourth component, the alcohol content, that causes a “heat” in the back of the mouth and some foods work to downplay that heat while others bring attention to it.

A wine’s tannins, derived from the skins, seeds, and stems of the grape, can be somewhat bitter.  When paired with dishes that are high in fat and protein (think red meat or hard cheese), the foods can tame those tannins, softening their astringent character.  Spicy foods or charred, seared foods, too, can complement the drying effect of the tannins.

The sweetness of wine will oftentimes balance spice and heat of a dish, but it can also accentuate sweet foods or contrast with salty fare.  Pair sweet wines with spicy Asian cuisine, for example, and the sugars in the wine will offset the spice of the peppers.  Bleu cheese couples well with sweet wine because the saltiness of the cheese is offset by the sugar content in the drink.

Acidity in wine can heighten the perception of flavors in a dish, but it can also be used to reduce them as well.  Rely on acidic wines to play off of foods in much the same manner as combinations used in cooking.  For example, the acidity of a lemon can be used to offset briny shellfish such as clams or oysters.  Serving a tart, acidic meal with an overly tart wine will allow the flavors to be more noticeable.

The alcohol content of a wine determines its weight and body, and heavier wines increase the awareness of density or texture in a meal.  Hefty wines should be used when you want to emphasize a quality of spiciness, saltiness, or weight in a meal, such as pairing a substantial cabernet with a marbled steak seared over an open flame.

The key to pairing wine with food is really to think of wine traits as flavor ingredients.  Using the tasting tools from previous articles, learn to tease out the subtleties of your favorite wines to then pair them with your favorite foods.  Below are just a few of the styles of wine and their best food counterparts to get you started.

Cabernet Sauvignon:  With strong tannins, this elegant wine pairs well with well-marbled beef and hearty fowl, foods with spicy rubs or soy marinades, and with grilled meats.

Merlot:  Rounder and softer than Cabernet, fruity Merlot is often matched with meaty fish such as tuna, lamb, or meats with fruit sauces.

Pinot Noir:  This light-bodied, low tannin red works best with earthy foods such as mushrooms or lentils, as well as with wild game such as venison.

Chardonnay:  The rich, creamy texture of this wine pairs well with white fish, poultry, and pork.  It is also a nice complement to pastas with cream and butter sauces, and works well with the creamy textures of winter squash.

Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio:  Crisp and light, with great acidity, match this wine with fresh herbs and coconut curries, with mild cheeses, or with shellfish and chicken.

Sauvignon Blanc:  This lean, crisp wine is a perfect addition to summertime fare, such as salads with mild vinaigrette dressing and green vegetables.  Its flexibility also allows for the combination of delicate fish or oysters, and a large variety of cheeses.

Champagnes/Sparkling wines:  Most dry sparkling wines are tinged with just a touch of sweet, making them a perfect accompaniment to salty foods or berries.

Although there is an art, and maybe even a bit of a science, to matching foods and wines, remember, too, that taste and enjoyment are very subjective and there is no real textbook way to account for your personal satisfaction.  What you read about pairing is really meant to be a guideline to demonstrate how the textures and flavors, weight, sugars, alcohol content, tannins, and acids of wine work with those same elements of a meal.  Practice will help you to understand your own preferences, and who doesn’t like to hone their skills when it involves eating great food and drinking great wine?

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