Food pairing
Beer with nachos
Fried tortilla with melted cheese, chilli and sour cream — salty, fatty and hot.
Fried tortilla, melted cheese, jalapeño and sour cream — salt, fat, heat and acidity together, eaten fast.
Carbonation is doing most of the work. The chilli means bitterness is unhelpful, and the acidity is already on the plate.
Nachos 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 salt.
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.
Munich Dunkel — 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.
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.
English 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.
Oud Bruin — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Caution: A richer dish than this beer can clear from the palate.
American brown 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.
- Sahti — Delicate food needs a beer that stays out of its way.
- Lambic — A light beer against a heavy plate tends to disappear.