Top 5 Beers With Christmas Food

Christmas is the season for feasting and the food we eat is often rich and heavy and needs a liquid lift to lighten the texture. Beer, with its carbonation (CO2 is a natural by-product of fermentation) performs a miracle in balancing the richness.

If you are wondering how to match beer with food here are some handy tips. Use the Three Cs as a guide: Cut Complement Contrast.

Cut – this means choosing a beer that slices through the texture of flavour of food

Complement – choose a beer with flavours that complement the food

Contrast – the beer and food enhance the other’s flavour by contrasting.

Beer contains water, malted barley, hops, tannins (compounds that contribute body, astringency, bitterness, complexity), yeast and carbonation. Hops, tannins, and carbonation are excellent at cutting through food texture which is why beer is such a fine partner for food of all types.

Here are five popular Christmas dishes and the beers that I recommend to go with them.

Starter – Smoked Salmon

Beer: Citra Sour by Chorlton Brewing Company 5.2% ABV.

This is gently sour with a fruity acidity and it tastes of oranges and grapefruit.

Oily fish needs a drink with good acidity to cut through the texture and to balance the richness – this beer certainly has that!

Website: chorltonbrewingcompany.com/

Main course – Turkey

Beer: Aromantica by Brewster’s Brewing Company 4.2% ABV.

This golden hoppy ale has a juicy character that contrasts with the dry texture of the turkey. It tastes of tropical fruit, citrus and malted biscuits with a bitter finish. Turkey is dry textured lightly flavoured so the beer should not overwhelm it. This beer adds some juiciness to the texture of the meat.

Website: www.brewstersbrewery.com

Main course – Nut Roast

Beer: Brown Ale by Barrel and Sellers 5% ABV.

Brown ale is a savoury combination of bitter and sweet. This beer tastes of dried fruit, caramel, nuts, and has a roasted burned finish.

The texture of nut roast can be dense so this beer compensates by adding some tannins and savoury flavour to lift what can be a bland eating experience.

Website: www.barrellandsellers.co.uk/

Dessert: Christmas cake and mince pies

Beer: Tally Ho by Adnams 7% ABV.

This full-bodied bittersweet beer is the equivalent of Christmas cake in a bottle. It is a barley wine in style with flavours of spice, figs, dried fruit, brown sugar, and treacle and these complement the fruity fayre.

The texture of both cake and mince pies is dense and cloying in texture – they need a beer to have bitterness or tannins to cut through. This beer delivers both.

Website: adnams.co.uk/

Stilton Cheese

Beer: Ola Dubh by Harviestoun 8% ABV.

The name of this beer means ‘black oil’ in Scots gaelic. It is an Imperial Stout aged in whisky barrels and is a flavour fiesta of rich chocolate, liquorice, coffee, and vanilla.

Blue cheese is salty, earthy and highly flavoured and needs a big flavoured beer. Once tasted Ola Dubh is impossible to forget.

Website: https://harviestoun.com

– Jane Peyton

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Jane Peyton is a beer sommelier, writer, founder of the School of Booze and is currently Imbibe magazine’s Drinks Educator of the Year.