Pairings | Beer

Which beers are best for Burns’ Night?

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on January 22 2015 at 16:01

Although we naturally think of drinking whisky on Burns’ Night, beer is just as appropriate a pairing, especially for haggis. And with Scottish beers like Brewdog and Innis & Gunn in wide distribution it’s not too hard to find a homegrown one.

Popular suggestions when I asked some of my fellow beer lovers on Twitter included Fraoch heather ale, Innis & Gunn original and Traquair House Ale or Ola Dubh for the cheeseboard. Beers aged in whisky casks obviously kill two birds with one stone.

If you’re prepared to stray outside Scotland a tasting a couple of years ago suggested that strong Belgian beers like Chimay Bleu and Westmalle Dubbel are the ideal match. Two dark Orkney beers, Dark Island and Skullsplitter did well too.

Here are some other suggestions:

@TheBeerCast Got to be @WilliamsBrewery Fraoch, goes beautifully with haggis - nothing I’ve tried has worked better

@goodtastefood Williams Bros have done an amazing imperial Fraoch, at 10% I believe

To gain full access to this article and other premium content you need to purchase a bundle of credits which you can do as a one-off purchase or - and this is better value if you consult the site regularly - on an ongoing subscription basis. (1 credit = 1 article)

To buy credits you need to register an account, which which is easy to do here. Or just sign in to your account if you already have one.

If you’d like be able to check out all the food and wine pairings on the site you can buy a bundle of credits here to access my premium content.

And/or for regular updates on what and where I’ve been eating, drinking and travelling sign up for my weekly newsletter Eat This, Drink That, Live Well.