Having steak tonight, what beer style is best?

Looking to have a good pairing with my steak tonight. Not sure what styles pair best with steak. I usually drink a good IPA with burgers and it's awesome, just not to sure with the steak. Suggestions??

10A - American Pale Ale

I like pale ales and ipa's with steak.

American Ale or American Red

Furthermore's Knot Stock

Depends. What's a "stealk"?

I am really all over the map on this topic. Sometimes stout, pale, IPA. Even had a Angus T-Bone with a Flanders. It was heaven.

Sometimes a plain ole bud hits the spot.

Basic Pale Ale or red. something with a nice mellow hop aroma and taste. Don't want to take the attention away from the steak!

i've never had a beer that i didnt enjoy with a steak

IrregularPulse said:

Don't want to take the attention away from the steak!

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That's intriguing. Food pairings get a lot of attention with wine, but not beer. And generally with red meat you get a "big red" wine: cab sauv, shiraz, amarone, something like that.

Anyway, here's a link with food and beer pairings. From what I can see, the suggestions for steak are similar for beer as wine--bigger is better!

http://beertown.org/education/pdf/beer&food.pdf

I prefer a Kolsch or a Pale Ale with my steak. Most of the time I reach for a Pale Ale though. Probably because I don't usually have a Kolsch on hand but always seem to have a Pale Ale in the fridge.

There's an amazing fried chicken place in memphis and God help me, I cannot go there and NOT get a 40 oz of budweiser(its the only beer they have and its in 40's). the chicken just doesnt taste as good without a good ole 40.

But with steak...call me crazy but I love wheat beer. I just think the sweetness of the wheat goes well with the steak and potatoes.
-Jefe-

I'll echo the sentiments that bigger is better, and for that reason I usually like an IPA or double IPA with steak. I love spicy foods, so when I make a steak I put a huge crust of black pepper on it and then pan-sear it. The IPA is strong enough to hold up to that flavor.

l1ranger said:

i've never had a beer that i didnt enjoy with a steak

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Yeah I agree. And I've never had a steak that i didnt enjoy with a beer.

I think I had a porter once with a steak that seemed to do well. Maybe it was a porter steak. I think with any food pairing you would want a complete opposite in terms of flavor of your beer. I believe that like flavors will fight for take over and you may not be able to optimize the flavor of both steak and beer.

Either the way, it will be all good.

I think a food and beverage paring should be more than just "x-beer" with "y-food". If you are just grilling a steak, nothing fancy then a pale ale sounds about right. If you are adding any spice to that steak, you have to think about what that spice does to the tongue. Some salty marinade or some peppercorn rub on a steak will dull the taste buds, so for an IPA or a nice pale you might lost some of the taste to the meat. If it were going to be a spiced steak, I would say a nice klosch.

I'm gonna go against the grain and say:

I've never had a beer that goes as well as a plain-ol-fashioned-fire-grilled-steak as a glass of good red wine. I've tried farmhouse, pales, ESB, IPA, or RIS. Nothing can do as good as a nice bordeaux.

Any beef with sauce, a burger, pork chop, fried chicken, I can find a beer that goes as good, if not better than a wine. But for a good ribeye, I'll always go red.

B

A few weeks ago I had a scotch ale with a filet and it was a delicious pairing.

I usually have a Cabernet Sauvignon with my steaks but if it's beer then I say lightly hoppy pale ale

Flanders Red or Oud Bruin

Full of FAIL is this thread without one mention of Rauchbier

babalu87 said:

Full of FAIL is this thread without one mention of Rauchbier

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Good point although sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming. Tasty though it is.

IMHO, Hefe goes quite well with a steak.

Now there's your typical Tennessee backyard.

lol....... good stuff.

Conversely, I'm having a beer tonight and wondering what cut of steak to have with it.

I'm not a big steak person (mainly chicken and burgers for me) but it depends on how you're cooking it. I'd go with a stout or pale ale.

Cpt_Kirks said:

IMHO, Hefe goes quite well with a steak.

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Remind me next time I'm driving back home to Nashville to stop at your place to have a good time.

And I'll echo the sentiment that unless you're having a big red wine, go with a pale ale or IPA to pair with the steak.

I'll say it depends on the sauce. If you are pan searing andmaking a sauce with ____ herbs along with the drippings in the pan, sky is the limit, it just freaking depends.

With you basic slathered in butter or olive oil with some salt and pepper and cooked over open flame steak, any beer will do fine, though I tend to stay away from the extremes. A RIS could do fine, most of my dinner guests wouldn't care for that.

For guests of unknown palate with flame broiled no pan sauce steak I will have Bud, a good pale ale, probably a blonde and maybe an IPA avaialble. If I was going a little nuts with the cracked peppercorns I would probably ditch the blonde and go Bud, pale, IPA and IIPA.

Serve beer, it goes good with steak.

I always have a red ale with steak and prime rib. Can't go wrong.

Well, no one's mentioned it so...
Newcastle or other English brown if the steak and sides are moderately to heavily spiced. It seems to really refresh the palate with sweetness and fruitiness in contrast to the peppery spices often accompanying steak. Mmmmm....steak.

Nothing personal to any NewCastle drinkers, but if I were having steak I wouldn't want my meal to be messed up with a horrible after taste that NewCastle brings to the table...

Try some other English Browns if you want.....

My opinion is a nice Irish Stout.......Drives the senses wild nice steak medium of course and roast barley..............Yeah think I have decided what I want for dinner

I would have a dubbel with it. mmm

bad coffee said:

I'm gonna go against the grain and say:

I've never had a beer that goes as well as a plain-ol-fashioned-fire-grilled-steak as a glass of good red wine. I've tried farmhouse, pales, ESB, IPA, or RIS. Nothing can do as good as a nice bordeaux.

Any beef with sauce, a burger, pork chop, fried chicken, I can find a beer that goes as good, if not better than a wine. But for a good ribeye, I'll always go red.

B

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Pun intended?

Cpt_Kirks said:

IMHO, Hefe goes quite well with a steak.

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Lol, nice. But you're not tasting the steak with that A1.