Pairing Beer with Pasta

Pairing beer with pasta is not something I usually do. So, when a friend recently asked me to suggest a few beers for him to serve alongside the Italian cuisine he is planning to serve at his upcoming dinner party, I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I was a bit stumped. Not sure what it is about pasta, but there's just something about it that doesn't scream 'beer!' to me in the way that oh, pretty much everything else does. And yet, there I found myself last night, with a bowl of spaghetti in front of me and a taste for beer on my tongue. Since I began training for a half marathon a few weeks ago, I've been craving carbs like nobody's business, and after all, it was Wednesday night, which seemed like a perfect time to relax and enjoy a brew. So, pasta and beer, I wanted them both - what's a girl to do?

 Well, a few things, primarily research and tasting. And (lucky dog that you are), I, as your resident go-to beer gal, have taken the liberty of doing both for you (I'm a kind-hearted soul, I realize that). Before we can do anything though, we need to narrow down what kind of pasta dish we're talking about, which basically means the sauce. Pesto, for example, has an herby, garlicky bite, and is a totally different animal than say, an Alfredo, with its slightly nutty cheesy creaminess; as such, each needs to be paired with different beer. Last night, the pasta in my bowl was dressed with a simple, fresh marinara sauce, which, again, is wildly dissimilar from the two sauces previously mentioned. The way to think of it is that pasta is the blank canvas while the sauce acts as the colors that give it panache. So, what colors are we painting with in our dish and how does that affect our beer choice? Read on. 

In general, the stronger the flavor of the sauce, the stronger you are going to want your beer. So, for something like the slightly sweet, slightly acidic, middle-of-the-flavor-road tomato sauce I enjoyed last night, you're going to want to go with a similarly middle-of-the-road beer - for example, an amber ale. The hoppiness of the amber will cut through the sprinkling of cheesy parmesean on top and contrast with the slight richness of the sauce quite nicely. Additionally, the toasted malt flavors also present will complement and bring out some of the grainy flavors in the pasta, creating a very well balanced food-beer pairing. For a richer tomato sauce featuring meat, or a lasagna, for example, we'd want to go a little heavier on the flavor and select a Rauchbier, which, with its smokiness, will pair very well with the meat component of the dish. Going in a different direction, a spicy sauce, like a Fra Diavlo,  should be served with an IPA; depending on the specific beer, IPAs can vary in degree as far as flavor is concerned, but can always be counted on to pump up and highlight the spice factor with their extreme hoppiness. Herby pestos go well with a strong Belgian ale - Duvel in particular works really well with those flavors, while Alfredos - assuming you haven't added chicken, broccoli or any other accoutrements - can stand up well to a rich oatmeal stout.  For those thinking that oatmeal stout, with its sweet coffee-chocolate profile is an odd pairing with an Alfredo dish, try it out - the rich heaviness of both create a really nice, hearty effect.    

Bottom line, you want the flavors in your beer to either compliment or contrast with the flavors in your meal, and you want to be sure that the heaviness of your dish is matched by a similar richness in the brew. For beginners, a good rule of thumb is to pair light meals with light beers and heavier meals with dark beer; another way of thinking of it is to substitute light beers where you might serve a white wine, and dark beers where you'd serve a red. There are so many possibilities out there, and while many, many of them are going to be amazing, some just aren't going to work. So experiment. The world of liquor and food pairings is not just limited to wines after all! Surprise all your friends and order a beer next time you're at an Italian restaurant - you may just get hooked. If you're looking for specifics, here's what I drank last night with my ziti with red sauce:

Tröegs Hopback Amber Ale

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Hopback Amber Ale pours a bright, clear, coppery-red color with one finger of off-white head that quickly dissipates. The aroma is great - caramel and toffee, toasted malts and warm biscuits, all balanced very well with a fruity/floral hop presence. The taste is both sweet and bitter, with slight hints of citrus and a strong malty background. It feels smooth and creamy in the mouth, but medium bodied, and finishes slightly dry. This beer is extremely drinkable, especially for 6% ABV, and tasted awesome with my spaghetti dinner. It would also pair very well with pizza (same types of flavors) or even a nice juicy burger. Other suggestions to pair with your pasta and red sauce include Stone Levitation, Green Flash Hop Head Red Ale and Bear Republic Red Rocket Ale.