With the start of June, itap officially backyard barbecue season, demanding each of us put our yard, deck, porch, patio or terrace (or a friend’s) to its highest and best use: grilling in the summer sun. I probably don’t even have to tell you what the perfect beverage pairing is — itap not exactly a secret that beer and barbecue are a divine match.
Honestly, few combinations work better than beer and barbecue, and with good reason. The processes of creating both have important similarities, based in part on a scientific principle known as the Maillard reaction. Itap named after French chemist Louis Camille Maillard, who identified the reaction that occurs when malt, meat and many other things are roasted. In simplest terms, itap what gives bread, marshmallows, malt and your barbecue that flavorful, golden-brown color, a chemical reaction that occurs between amino acids and sugars when food is cooked, resulting in complex, savory flavors.
Another important process that happens when you cook malt or meat is caramelization, which is simply when the sugars are browned when they’re heated. Those caramelized flavors can help form the backbone of beer’s ability to pair so well with barbecue because the flavors between the two harmonize in a way that other beverages can’t match.
While generally speaking, all beer and barbecue can work well together, there are some guidelines to find the best possible match. For example, what kind of meat you use, and whether you smoke it, has a profound effect on its flavor, as do the seasonings in the many, many sauce options available, and these factors all shape which beer is the best to pair with your meal.
Here are a few tried-and-true suggestions to maximize your backyard barbecue with some great pairings.
Beef: Generally, darker beers that match the caramelization work best, like brown ales, black lager (or Schwarzbier), porters and stouts. For brisket, a porter or stout, especially a milk stout or Irish stout, is good, but so is the harder-to-find Scotch ale. Ribs practically cry out for a hoppy IPA, though a Belgian-style Tripel or Dubbel pairs well, too. A thick, grilled steak needs an equally big stout, regular or imperial.
Pork: Beers that tend to pair well with pork include pale ales, IPAs, German-style lagers or even porters. Pulled or sliced pork does well with an amber ale or a lager. A pork chop or loin would do better with a pilsner with just a little more hoppiness than the amber ale or lager. Pork sausages and Hefeweizens can also be great.
Chicken: Chicken pairs with a light lager, pilsner, saison or wheat beer. Barbecued chicken works well with an amber or pale ale. Spicy barbecue wings need a pilsner or a hazy IPA to cut through the spice. Meanwhile, smoked chicken with a pale ale or Belgian-style Witbier is a great match.
Smoked barbecue: The obvious choice is Rauchbier, which is brewed with smoked malt, giving it an intense smoky flavor. The best Rauchbiers come from Bamberg, Germany, but there are some great ones made in the U.S., like , brewed with malt smoked on native alderwood. It pairs particularly well with smoked salmon, which is often smoked over the same wood. Because they’re similar and complementary, the combination can be intense, but if you love smokiness, this may be for you.
Finally, here are some sauce-based pairing tips: Barbecue with Carolina-style sauces, which are tangy, sweet and spicy, work well with a Weisse beer, but also can pair with a pilsner or a gose. Vinegary or peppery sauces pair well with malty beers, like an Oktoberfest or Marzen beer. Korean barbecue, though it may sound counterintuitive, pairs ideally with fruit beer, while tomato sauces mix well with a brown ale or a Belgian Dubbel. The same goes for barbecue with Kansas City-style sauces, which are smoky and sweet, but it also works well with a porter or not-too-heavy stout. Spicy sauces do well with a hazy IPA or American-style lager, and tamarind sauce goes nicely with a lighter golden or blonde ale.
If you’re not sure what style of barbecue you’ll be serving, or don’t want to buy too many different types of beer, a few all-purpose choices are pale ales, pilsners, or dark lagers (like ).
Contact Jay R. Brooks at BrooksOnBeer@gmail.com.
