Chili Jack wrote:You know how certain wines are suggested to be served with certain meals? I've always wondered if similar suggestions apply to beer. Does an ale go better with steak? Is a stout or a porter best with trout? Does anyone know of such a list? If one doesn't exist, I think it should.
Welcome aboard.
Such things exist, and have been written by many people over the years ... but I generally take them with a grain of salt. Beer follows the same general underpinnings behind wine pairings and matching musical instruments, meaning that you have 2 choices at any given time: you can either pair to compliment/enhance, or pair to counterpoint ... and of course all such choices are also tempered by the nuances of how things are cooked/seasoned, as well as one's personal flavor preferences.
So answer the specific items you mentioned, here's what I'd do:
STEAK: It depends how it's cooked. Assuming, for instance, you mean a steak grilled to crusty rare perfection over charcoal, you have the two choices mentioned above ... to compliment or counterpoint. To compliment the crusty savory char, you could pick a dry irish stout, schwarzbier (black lager), or porter - the roasty notes of the dark grains would pair with the crust. If the meat is naturally sweet, or has a semi-sweet marinade, you could pair the meat to that ... such as a more full bodied amber or brown ale or oktoberfest, which are less dry & less bitter than stouts. Alternately, you could counterpoint, and pick something to cut through all the strong flavors, and refresh the palate ... like a dry hoppy pilsner (my 1st choice), or a dry wheat beer. Going in a different direction - suppose you cubed the meat, browned it, and then stewed it in brown ale (i.e., flemish 'carbonade of beef') ... the natural pairing would be the brown ale you used to stew it (preferrably Trappist). And then there's pairing to the back-notes of dishes - I have, for instance, a moroccan lamb stew that's stewed with things like prunes, cinnamon, honey, and other spices ... flavors that would pair very well with Chimay Blue (a Trappist brown ale that has cinnamon-like phenols) or an authentic dopplebock (which has notes of caramel and pitted fruits).
TROUT: It depends how it's cooked. If, for instance, it's poached or steamed in parchment, I'd go with a light clean flavor - like pils, a dry lager, or a hefeweiss. If it's dryish and hot smoked (i.e., served with crackers and assorted cheeses or other smoked fish, I'd pick a more assertive beer that can stand up to the stronger flavors while also cutting though the lingering smokiness/saltiness/fat ... like a tart wheat, a geuze, or perhaps a complex/hoppy/semi-dry bottle-conditioned Farmhouse Ale (ex: Troi Monts), to also pair with the cheeses and bread.
You get the general idea ... as with wine, you have some very general recommendations to keep in mind, and then you're pretty much free to do whatever your palate likes and the dish demands.
Beer also has the advantage of being cheap ... so if you're having guests over, you can buy and chill several selections, taste one of each while you're cooking to identify the one that pairs best (and which is also in the freshest condition). You can also pre-screen beers in advance. For instance - I've already worked out wine pairings, by trial and error, for many of the recipes in my personal recipe log. I already know, for instance, that an excellent match for a guacamole is a NZ Sauvignon Blanc (the herbal and lime notes match well with the lime juice and cilantro in the guac). You can do the same with beer for your fave recipes all year long ... that way you already have a good idea what you pair the next time you make the dish.
