Food pairing
Beer with chorizo
Paprika-heavy cured pork, oily and pungent, releasing red fat as it cooks.
Paprika-heavy cured pork that releases red fat as it cooks — smoky, salty, oily and pungent all at once.
A pale lager is lost here. Caramel malt meets the paprika and enough bitterness clears the fat, which is why an amber lager or a malty ale works where something crisper does not.
Chorizo 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 aromatic spice.
What to drink
Czech amber lager — excellent pairing
Paprika and red fat need caramel malt to meet them and Saaz bitterness to clear them. A pale lager is lost here.
Caution: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
Rauchbier — strong
Smoke in the beer meets smoke on the plate — the same family of compounds on both sides.
Caution: A richer dish than this beer can clear from the palate.
American porter — strong
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
Caution: A richer dish than this beer can clear from the palate.
Irish extra stout — strong
Roasted malt echoes the charred, caramelised edge of the food, so the two reinforce each other.
Bière de Garde — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Caution: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
Belgian dark strong ale — 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: Delicate food needs a beer that stays out of its way.
Dubbel — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Caution: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
Czech dark lager — strong
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
Caution: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
What not to drink
- International pale lager — Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
- Low-alcohol bitter — Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
- International dark lager — Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.