St. Patrick’s Day Beer and Food Pairings
There are basically three classic styles of Irish beer: lager, red ale and stout. While stout might be the iconic Irish beer we picture when thinking of pubs, lager is actually the most popular — and for good reason. Irish lagers are easy to drink and crisp, well-suited both to food and to drinking on their own.
Stout: Stouts (like Guinness) are creamy, just this side of bitter and rich. And they’re a good match for equally rich dishes — a fantastic complement to lamb stew as well as black pudding. Stout is also great with desserts; use it to make ice cream floats or incorporate it into a chocolate cake.
Lager: Pair Irish lager (a brand like Harp) with colcannon and other potato-forward dishes, such as boxty or champ; anything creamy and carby will work nicely here.
Ale: Red ales (something like Smithwicks; Killian’s is actually a stateside invention) are malty and mildly sweet — a good pair for corned beef or shepherd’s pie (or, frankly, a full Irish breakfast, but we won’t encourage that).
St. Patrick's Day Recipes with Beer in Mind: