We all know there’s an art to pairing wine with food. Sommeliers dedicate their entire lives to perfectly selecting and studying wines. 

Something that’s a little less known is that there’s actually an equally dedicated profession for beer. Trained Cicerones do basically the same thing as sommeliers except with beer. 

If you’re one to find a beer you like and drink it with anything, or pair any beer with whatever you’re throwing on the barbecue, a Cicerone would argue that you’re missing out on the true potential of both the drink and the meal. Because you may have had a good beer with a good burger, but have you ever had the perfect beer with the perfect burger?

Here are a few basics tips on matching flavours, complimenting intensity and fully utilizing scrubby bubbles.

Match Intensity

If you pair a bold beer with a light salad, you’re going to lose the flavour of the salad. Similarly, if you pair a mild beer with a rack of ribs, it will barely make an impact. For instance, if it’s a mild beer, then it’s best to pair it with food with mild flavours and bold beers with bold flavours.

Find A Common Flavour

beers have full and complex flavour profiles that often include a number of food-like ingredients. Not only can beers be bitter, sweet or dry, but they can also taste fruity, citrusy, floral, smokey or like a variety of spices. What a convenient quality when you’re trying to pair it with food! It’s wise to pick a beer that has a flavour or ingredient in common with the dish you intend to pair it with.

Drink The Beer That You Are Cooking With

A real pro tip is to actually cook with the beer you’re going to be serving the food with and blending all the flavours together for a big happy meal.