A new phenomenon is sweeping the land and gaining in popularity and that’s the new craze for craft beer. Now I know that beer drinking isn’t necessarily new, but it’s the type of beer we are drinking and when and how we are drinking it, that’s clearly a recent trend. While our love affair with wine and food has settled into the fabric of Irish life, the trendsetters are trying craft beers.

The word beer is an all encompassing umbrella for stout, ale and lager. There has actually been a slight decline in the popularity of the big, well known commercial brands, but an exponential increase in the smaller boutique beers now available all over the place. Also several pubs and bars have become specialist in the whole beer area. Talk to anyone in this particular market and they will tell you just how discerning the beer drinker is these days. It has also seen the growth of indigenous industries. Just down the road in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, The Dungarvan Brewing Company is blossoming. They are brewing and bottling a core range of three beers, Black Rock Irish Stout, Copper Coast Red Ale and Helvick Gold Blonde Ale. They have only been up and running for a short while but already these products are stocked in a range of quality off-licenses, bars and restaurants throughout the country. 

The upshot of all this high end beer drinking is that now food has also entered the picture and people are increasingly looking for dishes to pair with beer. Only last week I bumped into an old school pal leaving the supermarket with a small case of long neck light beer. He informed me that he was off to his sister’s house for some Indian food and that this particular beer goes really well with spicy grub! He would have been hard pressed in school to show you India on the classroom globe yet here he was pairing food and beer.

I was intrigued about this food and beer pairing. As far as I was concerned light beers (lagers) went well with BBQ foods in the summer and other than that beer (as in stout and ale), was pretty much the preserve of the pub with nothing more fancy than a packet of crisps to prop up the ‘food’ end of things. To say I have missed the mark in that thinking is being kind. There is a world of expertise available in the beer and food pairing subject and it really is a vast and varied one at that. The craft beer market is growing at a ferocious pace and even if you don’t want to partake, you should be aware of it as a phenomenon. Along with quirky and creative names there are also beers that are wood aged, having fruit introduced to them at early stages of fermenting or even having whiskey added. There is a constant need for new flavours and so everything from peanut butter to chilli is being added in an attempt to find the perfect blend. And, I should add that some of these beers are only for the real enthusiast as they can run to in excess of €100 a small bottle (and, no, I didn’t accidentally add an extra zero, I meant in excess of one hundred euro per bottle!).

So if you did want to do a little experimenting with beer at home how do you go about food pairing? Well I had to do a little digging but I found a Craft Beer Bar where, as it happens, the owner is also a chef and the bar serves food. Now the three are not necessarily linked – you don’t have to drink beer to sample the food, but this guy was a mine of information. According to his wisdom light ales and lagers and blond or gold ale all go well with spicy food. Thinking back, that was what my friend at the supermarket was planning to have with his Indian meal. The reasoning behind this is that spicy food, being quite strong on the palate, won’t allow you to fully enjoy the complexities of the stronger brews so light lagers are just fine.

It is suggested that Brown Ale goes quite well with traditional dishes such as chicken or beef – particularly if you are serving it with some rich gravy. Amber ale is good with medium spiced foods and pizza, but is not recommended with sweet foods. And old fashioned stouts and porter are excellent with typical hearty soups and stews. Interestingly it was also suggested that any dish that had beer as an ingredient in it, then a similar beer should be consumed alongside it to bring out the flavour. I suppose a beef and Guinness pie then would go with a pint of Guinness. Or a beer battered fish would work with the same type of beer that is in the batter. Pilsner is recommended to go generally with fish. As with wine, there seems to be a general consensus that you should only cook with beer that you would actually drink. Sweet stout is preferred for drinking with desserts.

Now all of the above is a very general outline because there are many nuances within the groups. It will also come down to individual taste and country of origin to consider; think about the type of food they generally eat and whether that is spicy, salty, a good deal of fish or is perhaps meat predominant. For example pork is a very popular meat in Germany and so many of the German craft beers are recommended as an accompaniment to pork dishes. These kinds of factors will all influence food pairing.

What is interesting is that for beer drinkers, and particularly the devotees, this is not about getting drunk. Beer drinking at this level is every bit as involved as expert wine tasting. It is about savouring the taste and picking out the subtleties that dance along the tongue. It is also about how the beer highlights the flavours in food and vice versa.

While I’m not sure if I’m ready to join the revolution just yet, I have to admire the passion of the few beer aficionados I did meet. The bottom line is that I’m all about great food, but I’m willing to try anything that will enhance that experience. Even if you are not a big beer drinker there are plenty of ways to cook with beer. In my book, An Irish Butcher Shop, I have a great recipe for Braised Beef and Guinness Casserole but you could substitute the Guinness for any good quality stout for a flavour variation. . If you are making a beer batter then fridge cold, good quality lager works well. There are also a number of recipes available for beer bread. This is just the tip of the iceberg though. Next time you are on line search for beer recipes and prepare to be astounded by the sheer volume available. If you do try a good recipe with beer do let me know.

This post was written by me, Pat Whelan, owner of James Whelan Butchers and a passionate advocate of local artisan food. My family have been producing quality Irish Angus beef for generations using a traditional dry aging process. This tradition is one that I continue to practice at our abattoir on our family farm in Garrentemple, Clonmel. These posts aim to impart some of the wisdom to readers and help them get the best out of the meat they eat! Our meat is available online here! I welcome your feedback to [email protected]

We hope you enjoyed reading this post by Pat Whelan of James Whelan Butchers. Pat is a 5th generation butcher, cook book author and the director of  James Whelan Butchers with shops in Clonmel, the Avoca Handweavers Rathcoole and Kilmacanogue, Dunnes Stores Cornelscourt, Rathmines and Swords in Dublin. Sign up to our newsletter for more updates from James Whelan Butchers