Food pairing
Beer with mole
A long-cooked Mexican sauce of dried chillies, nuts, spices and a little chocolate, where the sauce entirely decides the pairing.
Whatever the mole is served over is not the pairing problem. The sauce is built from several dried chilli varieties toasted and ground, nuts and seeds for body, warm spices, and a small amount of chocolate that reads as depth rather than as sweetness.
The result is bitter, earthy and complex at low actual heat, which is an unusual combination. Bitterness in the food is the thing to notice: a heavily hopped beer adds to something already bitter, while roast malt meets the chocolate and the toasted chilli directly.
Mole 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
American porter — excellent pairing
The sauce is the pairing problem and whatever it covers is incidental. It is bitter, earthy and complex at low heat, with toasted chilli and a little chocolate — and roast malt meets all of that on shared ground. Adding hop bitterness to something already bitter is the error to avoid.
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: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
Tropical stout — outstanding
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
Bock — strong
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
Caution: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
Rauchbier — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
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.
Czech dark lager — strong
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
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: 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 pale lager — Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
- Lambic — Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.