Food pairing
Beer with kebab
Spiced grilled meat with garlic and chilli sauces in flatbread.
Grilled spiced meat, usually fatty, in flatbread with sharp pickles and sauce. Salt, char and acidity together.
Carbonation and bitterness clear the fat, and the char rewards a little roast. The pickles supply acidity so the beer need not.
Kebab rules a lot of beer out, but several beers do the job it needs equally well. Pick between them on preference — the reasons matter more than the order. The attribute doing most of the work is fat.
What to drink
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.
Caution: A richer dish than this beer can clear from the palate.
Tropical stout — outstanding
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.
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.
Bock — 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.
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.
Old ale — 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.
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.
What not to drink
- Alcohol-free IPA — Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
- British golden ale — Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
- Cold IPA — Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.