This Is The Best Beer To Pair With Pulled Pork

You might think any old cold beer is going to pair well with some hot, smoky pulled pork, and you'd be right, sort of. But we're not settling for what's good; we want what's best. Cracking open a can of cheap lager after you take a bite of a pulled pork sandwich is going to help you wash it down, and that's about it. What we're going for is something that will make the pig that you spent hours cooking feel special. The best beer and sandwich pairings are just as much of an art form as wine and cheese or any other fancier, more respectable meal — because fancy doesn't matter with pairings, what matters is deliciousness. Really thinking about what you're drinking with your pork is worth it because the answer may end up surprising you. A crisp pilsner will cleanse the palate and cut the fat, but a hearty dark beer like porter or stout is pulled pork's best companion.

When you have a smoky pulled pork sandwich in front of you, loaded with sauce and crunchy coleslaw, a porter or stout will have the complexity to match it at every turn. These brews have a lot more tasting notes than lighter beers, with sweetness, nuttiness, and a hearty richness that will pair with all the flavors in an equally complex pulled pork BBQ sauce. The charred flavors of roasted malt in those dark beers bring out the same notes in the pork.

A lighter beer can be a nice contrast to fatty food, but with so much flavor in pulled pork, you need something strong that's going to stand out and not be overwhelmed by the meat and sauce. Even though it may be a little heavier, a dark beer is just as capable of cutting through the richness as a pilsner or lager. Not only will a dark beer's tasting notes bring out the same flavors in the pork, but tangy, savory sauces will make the beer taste better. Those savory flavors from the meat make the chocolate, coffee, and vanilla notes in most porters and stouts pop even more, adding to the overall flavor profile of the meal.

A Deschutes Obsidian Stout is a beer that packs in a lot of flavor, and that's a great, widely available place to start. If you prefer something a little smoother and sweeter, Left Hand Brewing makes a fantastic Nitro Milk Stout. Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald and Deschutes Black Butte are two more robust options from popular breweries. And, of course, you should never overlook Guinness and some of the other great Irish stout alternatives out there. Any one of these will go great with pulled pork, and you'll never settle for a thin, light beer again.