Food pairing
Beer with mac and cheese
Pasta in a heavy cheese sauce, sometimes baked with a crust.
Pasta in a heavy cheese sauce, sometimes baked with a crust. Fat and salt in quantity, with nothing sharp to relieve it.
More richness is not the answer. Roast bitterness has the weight to sit beside it and the dryness to cut it, which a maltier beer would not.
Mac and cheese 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
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.
Tropical stout — 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Weizenbock — strong
Malt sweetness rounds off the salt rather than compounding it.
Caution: A richer dish than this beer can clear from the palate.
What not to drink
- 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.
- Milkshake IPA — Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.