Food pairing
Beer with smoked salmon
Cold-smoked and cured, oily and salty with a pronounced smoke character.
Cured and cold-smoked, so it is oily, salty and smoky all at once but physically light. The smoke is subtle rather than assertive, which changes the answer.
Meeting smoke with smoke is possible and bold. The safer and more common answer is a firm dry lager that clears the oil and leaves the fish leading — matching a delicate smoke with a heavy one usually buries it.
Smoked salmon 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 smoke.
What to drink
German Pils — excellent pairing
Oily, salty and cured, so the beer's job is to clear it. A firm dry pils leaves the smoke intact and the palate clean.
Caution: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
American porter — outstanding
Roasted malt echoes the charred, caramelised edge of the food, so the two reinforce each other.
Dry stout — outstanding
Roasted malt echoes the charred, caramelised edge of the food, so the two reinforce each other.
Czech dark lager — outstanding
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.
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.
Oud Bruin — 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.
American brown 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
- Belgian table beer — 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.