Food pairing
Beer with apple pie
Sweet spiced apple in buttery pastry, with acidity from the fruit.
Sweet, spiced and acidic all at once, with pastry fat underneath. The apple acidity is the part most pairings forget — it makes a low-acid beer taste flat beside it.
The beer needs to be at least as sweet as the pie or it will read thin and sour, and a little of its own spice or fruit character bridges the cinnamon.
Apple pie narrows the field sharply, and one answer stands clear of the rest. Most beer falls down on at least one thing this dish demands. The attribute doing most of the work is sweetness.
What to drink
Dunkelweizen — strong
Peppery and clove-like notes from the yeast pick up the warm spicing in the dish — the same aromatic family on both sides.
Dubbel — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Alcohol-free wheat beer — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Roggenbier — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Belgian blond ale — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Bière de Garde — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Sahti — strong
Peppery and clove-like notes from the yeast pick up the warm spicing in the dish — the same aromatic family on both sides.
Caution: Something lighter will let the food lead. This pairing works only if you want the beer to be the main event.
London brown ale — strong
Enough residual sweetness to stand up to the dessert rather than being flattened by it.
What not to drink
- Grodziskie — Sweet food makes a drier drink taste harsher than it is.
- Alcohol-free stout — Sweet food makes a drier drink taste harsher than it is.
- Baltic porter — Something lighter will let the food lead. This pairing works only if you want the beer to be the main event.