Top 5 Italian Dishes You Can Pair With A Beer

You can combine beer with many Italian foods besides chips and pizza

When it comes to combining food and beer, you’d be amazed at the numerous combos that exist. While some produce mind-blowing tastes, the rest leaves bland flavors on your tongue. Your choice of food can significantly impact the taste of your beer. Therefore, pairing them correctly is important.

This article will break down the best Italian food pairings, whether you’re looking to visit a beer house or cook at home. While beer adds complexity and flavor to your meal, food also largely impacts your beer taste. Therefore, it’s best to pay more attention to how you pair your meal and beer to enjoy the best of both.

MAJOR ITALIAN MEALS AND BEER PAIRINGS

While there isn’t a limit to dishes you can pair with beer, the following are the top five Italian meals you can combine with ales and hops:

1.   BEER AND ITALIAN STEAK

Nothing beats enjoying your Bistecca Alla Fiorentina (an Italian version of a rare-cooked, thick-cut T-bone steak) with a glass of boozy bock beer.

Most people prefer eating meat with red wine and chicken or fish with white wine. Thus, they’re naturally inclined to go for a dark beer while pairing meat and beer. Don’t limit yourself! It’s best to explore other options like a Saison or Pilsner.

Also, consider the weather when choosing a beer for your steak. For instance, a nice bock will be perfect for your steak in cold weather. Alternatively, a Saison is best for the summer.

2.   BEER AND PIZZA

While beer and pizza are the most popular on our list, the trick lies in choosing the perfect beers for each pizza variety to enhance its flavor.

Pineapple and bacon pizza is best combined with brown ales and lagers because the bacon’s saltiness contrasts the brown ale’s caramel undertones. Alternatively, the lager’s malt notes blend with the pineapple’s sweetness.

You can pair traditional pepperoni pizzas with hoppy IPAs to wash away the greasy, salty flavors on your palette and balance the sauce spices. IPAs combine well with the heavier crusty pepperoni pizza ingredients.

Lastly, combining a classic Marguerita pizza with a Pilsner is best due to its light flavors. Pilsner’s light flavor will blend smoothly with the Marguerita pizza’s delicate flavor without one overpowering the other.

An amber ale’s hoppy flavors ideally complement the pizza’s crust while cutting through the tomato sauce’s acidity.

You can combine beer and pasta for a different but unique taste

3.   BEER AND PASTA

While it’s common to find a glass of wine close to a plate of pasta, no law says you can’t enjoy a heaping bowl of pasta with a beer. The next time you want to enjoy a hot bowl of pasta, swap your Chianti with a fresh Saison. This farmhouse-style beer blends the tomatoes’ acidity.

Pastas like Arrabbiata offer a little kick and blend with Pilsner due to their hoppy taste, making it perfect for the spicy sauce. Still, you can enquire about the best beer for your meal from the beer house.

4.   BEER AND ITALIAN RED SAUCES

It’s uncommon knowledge that Italian food pairs nicely with red wines, especially meals made with red sauces, including Amatriciana, Bolognese, and Puttanesca. Red wine and tomato sauces combine effortlessly due to the acidic quality and sweet taste of the two fruits: tomato and grapes.

But beer is a worthy alternative. Belgium is renowned for brewing cuisine-friendly beers and yeast-forward brews offering fruit notes and acidity. Most of these Belgian ales have the same sweet-tart taste popular with Italian red wines.

Fortunately, Italians have followed the Belgian stride and are brewing their ales in northern Italy to suit various cuisines. While these beers which sometimes contain grapes are hard to find, they pair excellently with Italian red sauces.

5.   BEER AND DESSERT

Pasta, pizza, and red meat are perfect to combine with a glass of beer. But do you know the best combo to try? Dessert!

Don’t limit your dessert to a glass of sherry. Explore the taste of a cream-based dessert, like Panna Cotta or Tiramisu, with a glass of Italian barleywine. Italian barleywine is often sweetened and aged in barrels but is less intense than a fortified wine, like port.

Also, pair dark chocolate with beer to experience a transformative taste.

CONCLUSION

There’s no limitation to what you can achieve when experimenting with various dishes and beer pairings. However, we’ve provided the top five combinations to try.

While some combos like pizza and beer are common, others like beer and dessert aren’t well known. Try out these pairings and tell us how they went in the comment section.