Food pairing
Beer with baklava
Layered filo with nuts and honey syrup, about as sweet as food gets, with nuts and rosewater underneath.
The sugar level here is at the top of the scale and it is delivered as syrup, so it coats rather than dissolves. Underneath there is real complexity — pistachio or walnut, sometimes rosewater or cardamom — but it is easy to lose behind the honey.
A beer sweeter than the dessert has nothing to say, and a bitter beer against this much sugar turns harsh. The useful move is nuttiness: a malt-forward beer with toasted character meets the pistachio rather than competing with the honey.
Baklava 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
Doppelbock — excellent pairing
At this much honey, a sweeter beer would taste of nothing — sweetness cancels sweetness. A doppelbock has the nutty, toasted depth to meet the pistachio underneath instead, which is the part of the pastry that has anything to say.
Belgian dark strong ale — strong
Brisk carbonation lifts residue off the palate between bites.
London brown ale — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Sweet stout — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Weizenbock — strong
Brisk carbonation lifts residue off the palate between bites.
Pastry stout — good
Enough residual sweetness to stand up to the dessert rather than being flattened by it.
Eisbock — good
Enough residual sweetness to stand up to the dessert rather than being flattened by it.
Milkshake IPA — good
Enough residual sweetness to stand up to the dessert rather than being flattened by it.
What not to drink
- Alcohol-free pale lager — Sweet food makes a drier drink taste harsher than it is.
- Grisette — 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.