The relationship between food and beer has always been complex. In formal dining settings, even the most nuanced and fine examples of beer have forever struggled to find recognition on restaurant beverage lists; the perceived wisdom goes it lacks the sophistication, prestige and ceremony of fine wine.

Elitist aristocratic language with a distinctly French accent, together with the age of hyper-convenience, saw to it that beer would seldom, if ever, grace the dining room table throughout English-speaking countries. A typical Aussie idea of food and beer pairing has subsequently been one of imbibing a few coldies from the Esky alongside grilled meats at neighbourly summer BBQs as cricket commentary hums in the background.

Conversely, burgers and American-style BBQ have never been far from beer. As rolls filled with rissoles gave way to classic American-style burgers, many punters desired a fresh, hoppy pale ale as company. But, for the most part, despite the efforts of many brewers, somms, educators and beer festivals over the years, food pairing has remained the preserve of wine.

Good Beer Week might have featured an extensive program of food-matching events, while The Brewmaster’s Table, written by Brooklyn Brewery master brewer / esteemed beer scholar Garrett Oliver, acts as proof of what can be achieved, yet the evolution of beer and food has never quite become all-out revolution.

Frustrations over finding something to eat while encountering the same old “dude food” tropes revealed to me a cultural and marketing gap well worth exploring. Namely: If meat were removed from the equation, what would we be left with?

Maybe it was my empty stomach talking or maybe it was fate, but while enjoying a cold glass of beer one hot Melbourne afternoon in November 2019, I stumbled upon the menu of a 100 percent plant-based burger joint. The accompanying beer proved a perfect match. Thus the idea for Vegan a la Beer: Matching the Beers of the World With Plant-Based Cuisine was born.

What Is Vegan a la Beer?

Inspired by the Belgian phenomenon of cuisine à la biere, Vegan a la Beer is a book whose objective is to demonstrate that the full spectrum of beer styles can be matched to a surprising array of plant-based dishes. Belgium, home to breweries such as Chimay above, stands alone as a country whose restaurant menus often suggest an accompanying beer, even though more than percent of beer consumed there is macro lager. Vegan a la Beer is on a mission to encourage more homes, bars, pubs and brewpubs to offer more beer-appropriate food, vegan or otherwise. 

The Brewmaster’s Table provided the template for my book, in that both titles are centred around popular beer styles from around the world and appropriate foods to pair with them. Both texts detail each beer style’s history, placement in the modern world, what to expect from each beer's flavour profile, and a selection of ideal matches for the dinner table.

The most obvious difference between the two is that suggested meal ideas in Vegan a la Beer – and indeed the beers recommended for pairing – contain no animal-based products or derivatives, including meat, fish, poultry, eggs and dairy. 

The foundation of exploring the fundamentals of flavour matching – cutting, complementing, contrasting, dark versus light flavours, masking, bridging and matching intensity – remains the same, however.

What Is It Not?

First and foremost, Vegan a la Beer is not a recipe book. Between its two covers you won’t even find any pictures. Instead, it references recipes you can find on the internet as well as YouTube’s best and brightest creators: the likes of Gaz Oakley (aka The Avant-Garde Vegan), OneGreenPlanet, It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken, and Wil Yeung to name but a few.

It is also not a book that intends to preach. Aside from a tongue-in-cheek reference to the odd parallel between the hop-growing and egg industries, and a chapter on what inspired me to go plant-powered in the first place, Vegan a la Beer aims to inspire new ideas rather than adding further fuel to the already heated meat-abstinence debate.

What Inspired Vegan a la Beer?

Many longtime readers of The Crafty Pint, or frequent attendees at the country's best beer venues and events, will recognise my name. Since 2015, I have sporadically contributed stories on topics ranging from the lager renaissance through to where to enjoy a pint of the good stuff at venues across Perth, Fremantle and Melbourne’s route 19 tram corridor. For far longer, I've been an avid explorer and documenter of craft beer culture.

In 2018, I became a Certified Cicerone®, the first and to date only person to do so with profound vision impairment. Soon after attaining the accreditation, it dawned on me that being legally blind – defined as having 20/200 or less usable eyesight – meant most occupations within the brewing and hospitality were not suited to me.

Low vision being no impediment to writing, it made sense to put my accredited knowledge of beer to good use by penning a book. However, I desperately needed a point of difference in order to compete in a crowded marketplace in which most ideas had already been covered. Moreover, in today’s digital world most beer books have the shelf life of a pallet of IPAs left out in the heat of the midday sun. 

Before alighting from the 86 tram onto the scorching heat of Smith Street that fateful day, I had no idea that the marriage of smoky beer and plant-based burger would, five years hence, culminate in the creation of a book dedicated to matching beer with vegan food. With every sip and every bite the epiphany exploded into ideation and from there the book steadily took shape. 

Not long thereafter, in a review of Boatrocker’s House Red, Crafty Pint founder James Smith wrote: “If I still ate animals, I could see this going down a treat with something intense and gamey; as it is, it goes down a treat as a sipper with depth aplenty.” To which I replied: “Challenge accepted!”

As Vegan a la Beer heads for the printing press, here is a preview of what to expect: a trio of hors d’oeuvres to whet the appetite ahead of its release.

Burger Me! I Can’t Believe It’s Not Meat!

Burgers are typically the jumping off point for the newly ordained vegan and the veg-curious alike. Pre-packaged plant-based options abound in spite of recent market contraction. Vegan burgers nonetheless have an enduring appeal as they are easy to prepare at home and are the perfect countertop companion for a cold pint while at the local.

The burger that helped inspire Vegan a la Beer was a smoky number ordered into Beermash from neighbouring Green Burger (sadly, now long gone). The beer was Wildflower’s equally smoky Foggy Morning wild ale, inspired in part by the lichtenhainer style: a pale, tart and lightly smoky ale originating in Thuringia, Germany. The exchange of smoky flavour, itself an aroma interpreted as flavour by the olfactory system, transported me from bar counter to a campfire in a remote forest with no name. 

Beer that has been decoction-mashed (where a portion of the mash is separated and superheated once or more before being added back to the mash) is a perfect pairing for burgers featuring meat analogues as its malt profile is loaded with Maillard products. This chemical reaction is similar but different to caramelisation in that proteins rather than sugars undergo a transformative process. It doesn’t matter if the protein is plant-or animal-based as, curiously, the flavours imparted by this process are quite similar.

As Vegan a la Beer goes from style to style you will find suggested burger pairings for beers such as Bavarian dunkel lagers and smoky rauchbiers that have been through decoction mashing.

In writing this guide, I haven't forgotten about those wishing to steer clear of meat-substitutes. Hoppy and vibrant but still relatively malty classic American amber ales pair wonderfully with black bean burgers, while mild biscuit- and toffee-forward Irish red ales offer a huge affinity with panko-crumbed portobello mushroom burgers.

The book aims to illustrate the malt profile of the beer in question, offering textures, flavours and “kokumi” (a flavour-enhancing compound not unlike umami present in beer but not wine) that are ideal for complementing the burger of choice’s protein. Hop bitterness and carbonic bite (the texture associated with carbonation) bolster the fixins while providing much needed cutting power.

Seasonal & Special Occasions Made Vegan

The late, legendary beer writer Michael Jackson once famously proclaimed: “[There is] a beer for every season and an occasion for every beer” in The Beer Hunter documentary series. Throughout Vegan a la Beer, the best time of year to enjoy particular styles is highlighted as they complement the food best enjoyed when the temperature heads 10°C north of what’s comfortable, or what to select when stout season arrives. Seasonality and occasionality is, after all, a huge driver in what we like to drink and when.

Annual holidays are times when food lovers are most likely to reach into their collection for a special beverage to accompany a celebratory meal. Increasingly beer has come to the party in many people’s homes during festivities: for some, saisons, wild ales and bourbon barrel-aged beers have taken the place of chilled tinnies or chardonnay at the dinner table. Much the same can be said of plant-based food too.

Throughout the pages of Vegan a la Beer, I recount Christmases spent with family enjoying generously seasoned homemade tempeh sausage rolls served alongside tangy tomato salsa and herb roasted potatoes. On paper, one might wonder how this summery meal could be enjoyed alongside a malt-driven wild ale that spent its beauty sleep in muscat barrels, but the symphony of flavours rings out like a concert at Perth’s acoustically sublime Belvoir Amphitheatre.

Wildflower brewer/blender Topher Boehm proclaimed his Noel to be the perfect beer to enjoy alongside Christmas ham. I highly doubt he would have imagined it paired with gourmet vegan sausage rolls! As Noel is no longer produced, oud bruins such as Liefmans’ Goudenband or Slow Lane’s Bear Hug (when available) make for an ideal substitution. 

Wild ales' punchy acidic character lends itself extremely well to summery fare like caramelised onion galette served with a heaping side of couscous. It’s a bold meal by summer standards, hence it benefited hugely from the rapier-like acidity of Boatrocker’s whisky sour-inspired Sternweisse, and the beer’s sweet undertones gave the galette’s caramelised onion and pastry a lift from underneath.

Meanwhile, at the darker, wintry end of the spectrum, Vegan a la Beer stakes claim to a pint of oatmeal stout’s affinity with everything from mushroom pizza through to hearty vegan roast dinners.

Beer For Dessert? How About Beer With Dessert?

While writing Vegan a la Beer I secretly dreaded approaching the point where I’d arrive at tackling smoothie sours and pastry stouts. Suffice to say, these gelato- and candy store-inspired concoctions are much loved by a vociferous collection of seasoned craft beer drinkers for their sickly sweetness while being reviled by vegans for the copious addictions of lactose –non-fermentable sugars derived from dairy milk – they contain.

Equally, it’s a shame to see craft beer ignored as an accompaniment to dessert; thus Vegan a la Beer’s intent is to open people’s minds as well as their compactors to an incredible array of textures and flavours. Furthermore, where wine must generally speaking be sweeter than the pudding, beer need only be 6 percent ABV or more (unless it has a bit of acidity) to be a power-to-power match with dessert. The only other rule is to have fun!

Vegan chocolate desserts in particular show how rebellious beer can be. Wine buffs might sing zinfandel’s praises when matching wine with chocolate, however Vegan a la Beer makes the case for sweeter fruited ales such as young cherry lambics (think Brasserie Boon Kriek) paired with a slice of delicately-poised chocolate vegan cheesecake. Similarly, a big, bold and chocolaty imperial stout aged in whisky barrels offers a massive complement-contrast pairing with chocolate cherry pie. If it’s death by chocolate you seek, you might like to consider pairing your imperial stout with a rich and decadent chocolate ganache.

Beer and cheese is a deadly food pairing often overlooked by cheese lovers and, while you might scoff at the very thought of vegan cheese, what if I were to tell you blue cheese – that most famous of funky desserts – can be made vegan by carefully fermenting almonds or cashews?

Noshing, a faux-mager based in Perth, produces a deeply funky, earthily piquant, and sumptuously creamy almond blue cheese that is crying out for an equally bold barrel-aged barleywine. This is the contrast pairing to die for as the beer’s toffee sweetness, dark fruit and alcohol heat warmly embrace the cheese’s sharp and salty character. The unctuous creaminess of the cheese dovetails harmoniously with the woodsy beer’s barrel notes and residual sweetness. 

Naturally, there are far more approachable cheese and beer pairings found throughout Vegan a la Beer, including Blasta Brewing’s helles lager paired with jalapeño-spiked harvarti (also from Noshing) and smoked gouda alongside the roasty char of an export stout. Vegan a la Beer offers something for everyone and this is especially true of the cheeseboard.

Vegan a la Beer, written by Graham Frizzell and edited by Guenevere MacDonald at Earth Harmony Living Editing & Publishing Services is due for release in time for Christmas 2024.

About Graham

Graham Frizzell is a legally blind beer writer and Certified Cicerone® based in Perth, Western Australia.

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My epiphany beer moment was...

In 2000 my family and I relocated our half-dozen St Bernards and the remainder of the menagerie from Rockingham to Tasmania. We travelled across the Nullarbor to Melbourne by car and on to the Apple Isle via The Spirit of Tasmania.

I developed a keen interest in beer during Year 12 of high school. I learned of dark beers and stout by way of Lion Nathan's website of all places, which even then was ahead of its time, while researching for a computer studies project. "Stout tastes like coffee and dark chocolate? Yes please!" I thought.

I was delighted to find Cooper's Best Extra Stout was available at the ship's high end dining room. With no ID, I thought my five-day car journey stubble was convincing enough, and after being packed in like a sardine for much of the way I needed a beer! Miraculously, I got the nod.

It was a baptism of fire. But delicious and moreish, and everything I hoped it would be. We lasted all of three months in Tassie, but this memory will last me a lifetime.

Three beers I'd recommend to turn someone onto craft beer...

• Blasta Where The Helles Burrswood – Because this is what real lager tastes like. No shortcuts, no additives, properly lagered and with an approachable, even familiar, flavour profile that is as close to easy lager drinking perfection as it gets.

• La Sirène Saison – Every wine list in the country ought to have at least three beers from La Sirène's range, but if they only have the room for one it's got to be the Alphington outfit's flagship Saison. This wonderful ale is proof beer can be as nuanced as wine, and it's equally as adept at matching with food.

• Nail Oatmeal Stout – If you are familiar with stout by way of Guinness this one's for you. I had it for the first time on draught at a pub in South Fremantle back in '05 and the experience was as revelatory as my Coopers stout initiation. It's smoother and more rounded, with a touch of caramel sweetness underneath its gentle roastiness.

The last beer I enjoyed was...

Jack's Abbey Red Tape – A super toffee-ish and deeply malt-complex amber lager from Boston, Massachusetts.

Three things that represent me besides beer...

If I'm not wearing a brewery's t-shirt I'll be wearing one from Anjunadeep (my favourite progressive house music label), my Freo Dockers polo, or one that says #veganfortheanimals / #veganfortheplanet.

Articles by Graham