Food pairing
Beer with eggs benedict
Poached egg and hollandaise on muffin, which is butter and yolk emulsified twice over and the richest thing on any breakfast menu.
Two emulsions on one plate. Hollandaise is butter held in egg yolk, poured over a poached egg whose own yolk is about to do the same thing, and there is nothing in the dish that cuts it — the muffin absorbs rather than contrasts.
The lemon in the hollandaise is the only relief present, and it is a hint. This is the clearest case in the catalogue for choosing a beer on carbonation and acidity alone: a highly carbonated, dry beer clears the palate between mouthfuls, and anything sweet or heavy compounds a plate that is already at its limit.
Eggs Benedict 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 fat.
What to drink
Tripel — excellent pairing
Two emulsions on one plate — butter held in yolk, poured over more yolk — and nothing in the dish cuts either. A tripel is dry, strongly carbonated and high enough in alcohol to shift fat that a lighter beer would slide over, which is the rare case where strength is doing useful work rather than dominating.
Caution: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
Oud Bruin — strong
Tartness resets the palate between mouthfuls, the way a squeeze of lemon does.
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.
Foreign extra stout — strong
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
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.
Double IPA — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Weizenbock — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Caution: A richer dish than this beer can clear from the palate.
Czech dark lager — 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.
What not to drink
- American stout — Hollandaise needs cutting, not matching. Carbonation and acidity are the tools; body is not.
- Alcohol-free stout — A light beer against a heavy plate tends to disappear.
- Alcohol-free pale lager — Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.