Food pairing
Beer with roast pork
Roasted pork with crisp fat, mild and sweet compared with beef or lamb.
Rendered fat, crisp crackling and mild sweet meat, usually served with something sharp — apple or mustard — to cut it.
Crackling is surface fat and can be cut; the meat underneath wants matching. A beer with both bitterness and malt handles the two halves.
Roast pork 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
American stout — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Belgian IPA — 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.
Tripel — 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.
Belgian golden strong ale — 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.
Black IPA — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Gueuze — strong
Tartness resets the palate between mouthfuls, the way a squeeze of lemon does.
Caution: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
American wild ale — strong
Tartness resets the palate between mouthfuls, the way a squeeze of lemon does.
Caution: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
Grodziskie — strong
Brisk carbonation lifts residue off the palate between bites.
Caution: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
What not to drink
- American barley wine — Delicate food needs a beer that stays out of its way.
- Belgian table beer — Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
- Kentucky Common — A light beer against a heavy plate tends to disappear.