Which beer goes with which dish?

Choose a beer that is as intense as the dish, then set bitterness, carbonation or acidity against fat and salt.

Intensity is the first sieve: a light dish disappears next to a heavy beer, and a heavy dish rolls over a light beer. The second sieve is contrast. Hop gives beer its bitter taste, and bitterness clears fat in the mouth. Carbonation does the same with a scouring motion. The third sieve is the bridge: roasted malt next to roasted meat, fruity yeast next to fruit in the sauce.

With fish and shellfish, a witbier, a pils or a saison of 4 to 6 percent by volume goes well, with plenty of carbonation and little bitterness.

Witbier gets coriander and orange peel in the brewhouse, which makes it work like the slice of lemon next to the fish. With fried fish and kibbeling, a dry pilsner does the same job as vinegar. With oysters, stout is the classic choice, the roasted malt balancing the salty taste. Keep heavy, strongly hopped beers away from white fish.

With roasted and braised meat, a dubbel, a bok or a quadrupel of 6.5 to 10 percent by volume goes well, with dark malt and residual sugar.

With roast meat, the Maillard reaction creates the same roasted and caramel-like tones as roasting malt, and a dubbel or bock builds a bridge to that. If you have braised with beer, pour the same beer alongside. With a grilled steak, an amber or a porter fits. With minced meat, hamburgers and sausage, a weizen of 5 to 6 percent by volume works.

A blond or witbier goes with young cheese, a tripel or dubbel with mature and old cheese, and a quadrupel or a stout with blue cheese.

Cheese is fatty and salty, so carbonation and bitterness clear the palate. The older the cheese, the more strength the beer can have. Trappist and abbey beer of 6.5 to 9 percent by volume hold their own next to an eighteen-month cheese. With blue cheese, a beer with residual sugar works, because sweetness offsets the salt. Fresh goat cheese calls for acidity, so a saison or a lambic.

With a dessert, choose a beer that is itself sweeter than the dish, otherwise the beer tastes sour or bitter.

With chocolate, an imperial stout or a quadrupel works, because the roasted malt and the residual sugar coincide with cocoa. With apple pie and pastries, a bock or a fruit beer of 3 to 6 percent by volume suits. With a fruit salad a kriek or a raspberry beer works. Pour small glasses of 15 centilitres, because these beers are heavy and sweet.

Yes, serve light beers at 5 to 7 degrees Celsius and strong beers at 8 to 12 degrees Celsius, otherwise the aromas disappear.

Cold beer tastes less bitter and less sweet, because cold dampens flavour. A pilsner with fried food can therefore be cold, but a tripel or quadrupel with cheese should not be. For heavy beers use a glass with a rounded shape, so that the aroma lingers. Do not pour more than a third of the bottle at a time, then the glass holds its carbonation longer.