Food pairing
Beer with treacle tart
Golden syrup set with breadcrumbs in pastry, intensely sweet with a faint bitterness from the syrup itself.
Golden syrup is not simply sugar. It is partially inverted and carries a slight caramel bitterness, which is what stops a treacle tart from being unbearable and what makes it more interesting than its sugar content suggests.
That trace bitterness is also the pairing hook. Roast malt meets it directly and gives the beer something to do besides being out-sweetened, which is the fate of anything that tries to match the syrup on its own terms.
Treacle tart 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 sweetness.
What to drink
Pastry stout — strong
Enough residual sweetness to stand up to the dessert rather than being flattened by it.
English barley wine — good pairing
Golden syrup carries a faint caramel bitterness that ordinary sugar does not, and that trace is the hook: it gives a malt-heavy beer something to meet instead of being out-sweetened, which is the fate of anything trying to match the syrup directly.
Caution: Something lighter will let the food lead. This pairing works only if you want the beer to be the main event.
Sweet stout — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Belgian dark strong ale — strong
Brisk carbonation lifts residue off the palate between bites.
London brown ale — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Weizenbock — strong
Brisk carbonation lifts residue off the palate between bites.
Eisbock — good
Enough residual sweetness to stand up to the dessert rather than being flattened by it.
Wee heavy — good
Enough residual sweetness to stand up to the dessert rather than being flattened by it.
What not to drink
- Lichtenhainer — Sweet food makes a drier drink taste harsher than it is.
- English brown ale — Sweet food makes a drier drink taste harsher than it is.
- Scottish ale — Sweet food makes a drier drink taste harsher than it is.