What ’s for dessert? In my house the answer always comes with another question: do I have a beer to go with it? Puddings give us some of the most enjoyable (and perhaps unexpected) food pairings for beer. Think about a chocolate mousse with a raspberry beer’s tart sweetness, or the bold citrus hop in a double IPA with a slice of carrot cake. Imagine the combination of a Belgian quadruple’s raisin and cinnamon flavours with apple pie, or a rich, chocolatey imperial stout with a slice of vanilla cheesecake. These are matches that elevate a lready-great desser ts into something even more special.
Not all beers are good with pud, however. You need beers with body, sweetness and of ten a higher strength, so finish any crisp, bitter pale ales and lagers before dessert is dished up. Instead, look for strong, dark ales with roasted flavours and rich texture, which can handle sweetness in food. Find beers with added fruit, especially Belgian cherry and raspberry beers, which are great with fruit cheesecakes, lemon desserts and chocolate. Beers aged in wooden barrels, meanwhile, tend to have a creamy vanilla flavour to match – youg uessed it: creamy vanilla puddings.
Or how about dessert-inspired beers? A recent trend has seen more beers brewed with ingredients such as chocolate, coffee, fruit, vanilla and creamy milk sugar ( lactose). These decadent, sticky and sweet beers are the perfect thing to pour with your pud – or maybe even to have instead of dessert. markdredge.com