I know lots of people like to pair beer with food. I really don't care for it, however. Its especially pronounced with IPA's or other hoppy beers. Even if the dish I am eating is not sweet, it ends up making the IPA taste sour, overly bitter and metallica to me. Other styles arent nearly as bad, but I typically enjoy drinking a beer before the meal arrives. Is anyone else this way?
Spicy foods such as Indian pair well with IPA or try carrot cake. My favorite pairing with IPA is carrot cake.
Thats the thing, I've tried them with dishes such as Chicken Tikka Masala (Ok I guess not real Indian and sort of sweet) but others too like curry, and the same problem occurs for me.
I actually kinda feel the same way. I'm a huge IPA fan, but I don't really like pairing food with them. But a hamburger with crumbled blue-cheese, bacon, and cajun spices with an IPA actually hits the spot. I had it once at Great Lakes brewpub with a Commodore Perry and it really paired well.
Personally don't enjoy pairing food and beer. You will never fully experience a beer if you are eating while drinking it. Period.
When i pair IPAs with a lot of food, it makes them taste incredibly boozy for some reason..anyone else get this?
I love a nice bitter IPA with a cajun chicken sandwich. But I generally agree with the OP's sentiment, I prefer enjoying a beer's full flavor without food getting in the way.
Haven't really tried pairing an IPA with food, but drink a rauchbier with some good barbecue. So obvious, and yet so satisfying.
Meatless lasagna is pretty good w/ IPA. Roasted possum, too. (Hey, don't knock it 'till ya tried it)!
I like to pair my IPAs with another IPA I have also found that cheesecake tops the list of food pairings.
IPAs with sweet. It's an amazing pairing. The best? Pliny the Younger with Krispy Kreme donuts - one of the great pairings of my life. (For real).
I think spicy foods affect IPAs in two ways. One is masking the flavor of the hops way too much. Not too long ago I had Two Hearted on tap with some spicy chicken wings. It was a waste of money and a waste of a good beer as I could barely taste any hop flavor with all the spice on my tongue. The other way is amplifying the bitterness and the spiciness, making a mess. Spicy cheese will do this. Either way, spicy foods are a no-go with IPAs IMO.
Can't believe I'm the first to say this, but... Wrong forum. Anyway, I like IPAs with a lot of different foods. Spicy to further intensify things. Sweet to clean the palate of the bitterness then set it up for another dose of hops. Creamy cheese like a Brie or a bleu to give the prickly hops and carbonation something to cut through. Long story short, I completely disagree with you.
Agreed. Beer should be drank before eating of food. I always get my friends wondering why I dont start eating until I'm done with the beer. The problem is, your taste buds sorta adjust to "eating mode" and, I have not proven this scientifically, but I feel the bitterness of beer on the palette after eating is highest right after eating. Give the taste buds time to adjust and then it will be fine again. And yes, with other beers, specially Belgians, this isnt a problem.
What if the beer is the meal? Is that a problem? Honestly, I drink beers before, during, and after a meal (including ipa's). I never really got the whole pairing crap. Good food goes well with good beer. Maybe you just don't like ipa's, or hoppy beers, with food?
Anything spicy: Thia, Chinese, gumbo, Mexican, or a heaping plate of my Buffalo wings. I love the extremes in heat, sweet, and bitterness all at once.
