Food pairing
Beer with goulash
Beef stewed slowly with a great deal of paprika, where the spice is sweet and earthy rather than hot.
Paprika in the quantities goulash uses is not a seasoning but a principal ingredient, and sweet paprika at that — the dish is deeply red, faintly sweet and earthy, with heat that is usually incidental.
It is a braise, so the fat is in the sauce rather than on a surface, and nothing is crisp. Malt depth meets the paprika and the browned beef together; the useful thing to avoid is high bitterness, which sharpens paprika into something acrid.
Goulash 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 dark lager — classic pairing
Sweet paprika in the quantity goulash uses is a principal ingredient rather than a seasoning, and it is earthy rather than hot. A dark lager’s bread-crust malt meets it and the braised beef together, and keeping bitterness low matters because hop bite sharpens paprika into something acrid.
Caution: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
Weizenbock — outstanding
Peppery and clove-like notes from the yeast pick up the warm spicing in the dish — the same aromatic family on both sides.
Tropical stout — strong
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
American 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.
Oud Bruin — 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.
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.
Belgian golden 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: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
What not to drink
- Alcohol-free wheat beer — Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
- Alcohol-free stout — A light beer against a heavy plate tends to disappear.
- India pale lager — A light beer against a heavy plate tends to disappear.