Food Plus Beer

Okay all,

With wine you are suppose to drink red with red meat, and white with white meat. There is probably some more rules and what have you, but that is what I know right now. Anyways, is there rules with beer? When I am sitting down and eating a big juicy hamburger from McDonalds, j/k, lets say a steak, what beer would be best? How about with Chicken? and so on......

I am assuming that Miller Light is probably best with salad.

Side Note: If the above comment offends you I apologize, but I am assuming girly beers go with girly dinners. This does not apply to vegetarians, because they don't have much of a choice.(good luck saving those trees) Anyway, I am just rambling now, thanks in advance for you answers.

http://www.thestar.com/Life/Food/article/191398

http://www.beertown.org/education/pairing.html

Here are 10 beer-food pairings that everyone should try:

Trappist dubbel (especially Westmalle) with pâté
Guinness and oysters
Belgian framboise with dark chocolate mousse
India Pale Ale with well-aged cheddar
Belgian-style witbier with an unripened goat's cheese
Scotch ale with game stew
Bavarian-style weissbier with weisswurst
Imperial stout (such as Wellington's Russian Imperial Stout) with roquefort or stilton
Cask-conditioned pale ale with fish and chips
Pilsner with mussels

Beerbistro pairs


Here's how Beerbistro chef Brian Morin handled the pairings for the Brooklyn Brewery dinner:

Lobster taco; Brooklyn Lager (dry-hopped Vienna lager)
Onion-mushroom ale broth; Post Road Pumpkin Ale (spiced ale)
Berkshire pork/ale frankfurter; Pennant Ale '55 (very lightly-hopped pale ale)
Brown ale-braised bison cheeks in chili sauce; East India Pale Ale (hoppy IPA)
Bleu d'Ermite cheesecake with walnut/almond crust; Monster Ale (barley wine)
Molten chocolate beignet; Black Chocolate Stout (Imperial Stout)

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cglkaptc said:

This does not apply to vegetarians, because they don't have much of a choice.(good luck saving those trees)

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Trees are vegetable aren't they?

HEY!! I am going to use that next time a veggie munches says something to me about eating meat.

"Haven't you heard about global warming? What are you DOING? You are eating all the plant life that is trying to replenish the ozone, while I am killing and eating the animals that are destroying the ozone. You certainly aren't very EARTH FRIENDLY now are you?"

PeteOz77 said:

Trees are vegetable aren't they?

HEY!! I am going to use that next time a veggie munches says something to me about eating meat.

"Haven't you heard about global warming? What are you DOING? You are eating all the plant life that is trying to replenish the ozone, while I am killing and eating the animals that are destroying the ozone. You certainly aren't very EARTH FRIENDLY now are you?"

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i know you're being facetious, but raising animals for food requires about 10 times as much land, 5 times as much water, and up to 20 times as much fossil fuel as raising non-meat foods.

as to the original post, the garret oliver book is a must if you're interested. there aren't rules for food pairing in beer or wine. dry reds like pinot noir can be paired with mild foods like seared tuna, and a strong white wine can compliment just about anything. it's about pairing similar or contrasting dissimilar flavors. hoppy beers are particularly good for spicy foods, or anything heavily seasoned. sweeter belgian style ales are nice with any meat or vegetable that has been slightly caramelized in the cooking process. dark heavy beers like imperial stouts work best alone or with fruits and desserts, and lighter beers like belgian wits or pilseners work best with mild foods.

if there's a "rule" it is that a strong beer should be served with strong food, and a mild beer with mild food. i'm not going to get into your gender associations with said foods, but you've got the right idea that a pale lager like miller lite shouldn't be paired with a food that will overpower it, although i would say that typical american cuisine such as steak and hamburgers are very mildly-seasoned foods that pair best with lagers, particularly the pilsener and hamburger combination.

i appreciate your well-wishes on my tree-saving mission, and i wish you the same luck in your battle with cholesterol.

www.herestobeer.com actually has a pretty decent food-pairing "course"

There are only two rules in pairing food with beer, wine, liquor, any other sort of food, people, places, religions, bingo parlors, or anything else in the universe:

1) Think about what you are pairing and how they will complement clash with each other. Continue to think about that while you try it.

2) Do not be averse to trying anything.


TL

I like drier, more bitter beers with strongly flavored foods in general, sometimes you can get too much bitterness in your mouth after drinking a lot it and some food can really cleanse the palate and vice versa.