Food pairing
Beer with shepherd's pie
Minced lamb or beef under mashed potato — savoury, soft and filling.
Minced lamb in gravy under mashed potato — soft, savoury and heavy, with rendered rather than surface fat.
Nothing to cut through, so the beer needs presence. Malt meets the gravy and the lamb, and a little bitterness keeps the finish from turning heavy.
Shepherd's pie 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 umami.
What to drink
Belgian dark strong ale — strong
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
Double IPA — strong
Bitterness, carbonation and a dry finish scrub the fat off the palate, so each mouthful of food tastes as good as the first.
Tropical stout — strong
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
Foreign extra stout — strong
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
Weizenbock — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Doppelbock — strong
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.
Old ale — strong
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
What not to drink
- Alcohol-free pale lager — A light beer against a heavy plate tends to disappear.
- Belgian blond ale — A light beer against a heavy plate tends to disappear.
- Belgian single — A light beer against a heavy plate tends to disappear.