Pairings

Beer with Sunday roast

A Sunday roast is several foods at once. Roast meat, crisp potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, greens and a jug of gravy. The beer has to cope with salt, fat and a savoury sauce, and still leave room for a second helping. This is not the moment for a pungent hop bomb.

British bitter was built for this plate. Biscuit and light toffee malt sit with roast potatoes and pastry. The bitterness trims the gravy so it does not coat your tongue. If the meat is beef with a dark gravy, a nutty brown ale or a light porter can take the same role. Roast chicken and pork want the paler bitter, so the herbs and crackling stay audible.

Beer styles that work

Best bitter
The classic. Malt that tastes of biscuit and a clean bitter finish, usually somewhere under 5% so the meal can run long. It matches roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and a peppery gravy without covering the meat. Serve it cellar-cool, not ice cold, or the malt goes mute.
Brown ale
Rounder and less bitter than a best bitter. Useful when the plate has a lot of onion, carrot and a sweeter gravy, or when someone at the table finds pale ales harsh. Still savoury. Avoid a sweet, bottled brown ale that tastes of cola.
Porter, when the roast is beef
A lighter porter, not an imperial one, lines up with dark gravy, horseradish and well-browned beef. The roast flavour in the beer meets the roast flavour on the meat. With turkey or pork it can feel heavy. Switch back to bitter for those.

If you are not drinking beer

A cocktail

Gin and ginger

A measure of gin, ice, and a dry ginger ale, with lemon. The ginger lifts fatty potatoes and stuffing-like herbs, and the gin stays out of the way of the meat. Keep it long and not too sweet. A sugary dark mixer fights the gravy.

Without alcohol

Sparkling apple

A dry sparkling apple juice, or apple mixed with soda if the juice is sweet. The acid cuts roast fat and sits happily with pork and sage. Elderflower with sparkling water is the other table-friendly pour, especially with chicken. Leave the sweet kids' juice for the pudding.

From the ProjectBeer catalogue

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Questions

What beer goes with a Sunday roast?

A best bitter. Biscuit malt matches roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding, and the bitterness cuts gravy. Use a brown ale for a softer glass, or a light porter if the roast is beef.

Does the same beer work with beef, chicken and pork?

Bitter works with all three. Porter is better kept for beef and dark gravy. Chicken and pork stay clearer with a paler bitter so herbs and crackling are not buried.

What can I drink with Sunday lunch if I am driving?

A dry sparkling apple juice, or elderflower topped with sparkling water. Both have enough acid to cut the fat without tasting like a pudding.