Think of American craft beer and food pairings and what comes to mind? asks Lotte Peplow, European craft beer ambassador for the Brewers Association. Burgers, ribs, sausages and steak?
Well, if you’re one of a growing number who follow a meat-free diet, ‘Veganuary’ is the perfect time to explore how American craft beer can transform vegan and vegetarian cuisine and provide a surprisingly tasty start to 2026!
Beer’s flavour spectrum contains myriad possibilities that make it the perfect partner for plant-based and veggie dishes. Note the golden rule of matching the intensity of the beer (derived from acidity, alcohol, bitterness, carbonation, and residual sugars) with the intensity of the food (acidity, bitterness, cooking methods, fat, and mouthfeel).
Decide whether to create your dish first then chose a beer, or base your dish around a beer you want to sample. Remember that:
- hop bitterness is balanced by the addition of fat, and hops can also enhance spicy notes. When referencing fat in vegan and vegetarian cooking, consider how oils, ghee, butter, dairy, nut butters, and even honey may be used to recreate the savoury coating on the palate most often associated with fat;
- roasted malt notes are matched by sweetness, sweet malt notes calm spicy notes, and some malt flavours work well with acidity;
- carbonation is intensified by increasing the umami of a dish;
- carbonation also scrubs the palate clean; and
- alcohol is balanced on the palate by both sweetness and fat.
On that basis, try these pairing ideas:
- Vegetables and salads, especially those with a sharp vinaigrette dressing. Belgian wit, with its high level of carbonation and fruity esters, will complement the bitterness of green leafy vegetables and acidic fruits like tomato perfectly. Try Allagash White.
- Lentils, pulses, nuts, and seeds. The nutty, earthy flavours and creamy mouthfeel of this food group pair with a clean, crisp, well-carbonated pilsner. How about Athletic Brewing Co Alcohol-Free Lager (it’s Dry January, after all, so highly appropriate)?
- Veggie burgers, mushrooms, vegetable curry, or chilli. These often contain intense flavours that may be tempered by a malty, but hop-forward amber lager, such as Samuel Adams Boston Lager.
- Pizza, pasta, risotto. Choose a beer that will stand up to the flavours in your dish without overpowering them. The fruity, juicy, bold hop notes of classic American pale ale, such as Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, will cut through any fat content, and the bitterness will scrub the palate clean.
- Sweet ’n’ sour, Chinese-style foods, Thai food. Contrast the sweetness in these foods with a juicy, fruity, hazy IPA that contains just the right amount of bitterness to offset other flavours, such as the Virginia Beer Co’s Free Verse Hazy IPA.
- Cheese. Lighter beer styles go with mild cheese, such as goats’ cheese or Brie, while big, bold beers like barley wine and imperial stouts go with strong cheese, such as Stilton and extra mature Cheddar.
- Desserts. Sour beers work well against very sweet desserts by providing contrast, but for a complimentary match try beers that echo the ingredients of the recipe, such as those containing chocolate, nuts, vanilla, coffee, or coconut.
With a little creativity, January can be transformed into a journey of discovery, offering new flavour combinations with American craft beer that will convert even the most die-hard meat eaters.
Discover more
The UK is an important export market for American craft beer, accounting for 8.2% of all exports and ranking as the third largest market globally. It is available through selected bars, pubs, and dining venues, as well as bottle shops, off-licences, and online from Beer Merchants, Athletic Brewing, Sierra Nevada shop, Brew Export, Hop the Pond, Distant Lands, and Cave Direct.
America’s largest gathering for alcoholic beverage producers, the Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America, will take place in Philadelphia, Pennyslvania, from 20th-22nd April. This year’s conference will feature curated educational sessions and deliver a more streamlined programme that better matches the needs of today’s beverage professionals, while fostering a more structured conference experience. Find out more at craftbrewersconference.com
About the author
Lotte Peplow is the American Craft Beer Ambassador for Europe for the Brewers Association and is based in London. She is a certified cicerone, BDI-accredited beer sommelier, beer writer, author, beer communicator, international beer judge, homebrewer, and beer lover.
