Food pairing
Beer with rice pudding
Rice cooked slowly in sweetened milk, mild and creamy, with nothing sharp or bitter anywhere in it.
A milk pudding is defined by what it does not have. No acidity, no bitterness, no salt to speak of, no crunch — just dairy fat, starch and moderate sweetness, usually with nutmeg or cinnamon.
That makes it easy to overwhelm and hard to make interesting. A very sweet beer disappears into it, since sweetness cancels sweetness, and roast is the most reliable contrast — which is why a sweet stout beside a rice pudding works better than the pairing sounds.
Rice pudding 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 sweetness.
What to drink
Alcohol-free wheat beer — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Oud Bruin — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Dubbel — 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.
Dunkelweizen — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Belgian blond ale — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Roggenbier — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Sweet stout — good pairing
A milk pudding has no acidity, no bitterness and no crunch, so a sweeter beer disappears into it — sweetness cancels sweetness. Roast is the only reliable contrast available, and the lactose in a sweet stout matches the dairy rather than competing with it.
What not to drink
- Lichtenhainer — Sweet food makes a drier drink taste harsher than it is.
- Alcohol-free stout — Sweet food makes a drier drink taste harsher than it is.
- British golden ale — Sweet food makes a drier drink taste harsher than it is.