Food pairing
Beer with sunday roast
Roast meat with potatoes, vegetables and gravy — substantial and deeply savoury.
A whole-plate pairing rather than a single dish. Roasted meat, gravy, potatoes and vegetables all want the same thing — enough malt to sit beside them and enough bitterness to reset between mouthfuls.
This is where British bitter earns its reputation. It was designed around exactly this meal, at a strength that lets you have more than one, and the balance is not a coincidence.
Sunday roast 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 weight.
What to drink
Best bitter — classic pairing
Malt sweetness echoes the roast potatoes and gravy, bitterness handles the fat, and at around 4% you can drink it through a long lunch. The pairing is what the style was built around.
Caution: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
Belgian dark strong ale — outstanding
Malt sweetness rounds off the salt rather than compounding it.
Tropical stout — outstanding
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
Baltic porter — outstanding
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.
Doppelbock — outstanding
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.
Bock — outstanding
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.
Old ale — 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.
Weizenbock — outstanding
Malt sweetness rounds off the salt rather than compounding it.
Caution: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
What not to drink
- Belgian pale ale — A light beer against a heavy plate tends to disappear.
- Belgian table beer — Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
- Milkshake IPA — Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.