Food pairing
Beer with ham
Cured pork, salty and mildly sweet, often glazed.
Cured ham is salt first and everything else second, usually with a little sweetness from a glaze and a savoury depth from the cure. The salt level is what shapes the pairing, and it is high enough to make a very bitter beer taste harsh.
Malt sweetness rounds it off, which is why a Munich Dunkel or a brown ale suits it. That said, ham arrives in too many forms — sandwich, roast, on the bone, in a pie — for the beer to matter much on its own. The mustard or the glaze will decide more than the meat.
Ham does not constrain the beer much: nothing clashes and nothing is clearly best. Drink what you like, or choose for the sauce, the seasoning or the sides, which will decide more than the dish itself.
What to drink
Munich Dunkel — outstanding
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
American brown ale — outstanding
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
American porter — outstanding
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
American stout — outstanding
Bitterness, carbonation and a dry finish scrub the fat off the palate, so each mouthful of food tastes as good as the first.
Australian sparkling ale — outstanding
Bitterness, carbonation and a dry finish scrub the fat off the palate, so each mouthful of food tastes as good as the first.
Bière de Garde — outstanding
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Czech dark lager — outstanding
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
Altbier — outstanding
Bitterness, carbonation and a dry finish scrub the fat off the palate, so each mouthful of food tastes as good as the first.
What not to drink
- Belgian table beer — A light beer against a heavy plate tends to disappear.
- Milkshake IPA — Delicate food needs a beer that stays out of its way.