Beer is a better drink to serve with food than wine, Britain’s Beer Sommelier of the Year has claimed, as she advises hosts to serve it a Champagne flute or brandy snifter rather than traditional pint glasses.

Jane Peyton, who was named Sommelier of the Year by The Beer Academy in May, said that there was too much snobbery around pairing beer with food.

She advised serving beers made with Champagne yeast as an aperitif or ales with chocolate and coffee flavours with rich desserts like tirimusu.

“It’s actually much better pairing with a food than wine and there are so many special beers for fine dining,” she told The Independent on Sunday’s New Review magazine.

“But snobbery means it’s an uphill battle to convince people of all that. Wine as the drink of people of high status for 5,000 years and the wine industry, with its good PR has maintained that reputation.”

Ms Peyton said many hosts just assume that women, in particular, only want to drink wine at dinner or parties.