VICTORIA STOWE — The Gateway (University of Alberta)

EDMONTON — I always cook with beer. Sometimes, I even put it in my food.

In the past, fine food was often paired with fine wine. In recent years, though, beer has taken over the liquor market and has become a sophisticated beverage to cook with.

When added to food, beer enhances the flavours in the dish and imparts some interesting new ones as well. The malted barley used in brewing can add a wide variety of flavours, from caramel notes to biscuit or hints of chocolate. Hops, the ingredient that makes beer pleasantly bitter, may add notes of pine or citrus depending on what variety the brewmaster has chosen to use.

Of course, beer does more than just add flavour to foods; it’s also a natural meat tenderizer and can enhance the leavening effect in bread. Even beer-haters may get a kick out of adding some brew to their food since it won’t necessarily make food taste like beer. Instead, it adds a depth of flavour that enhances the food, bringing out the more subtle intrinsic flavours of the ingredients.

There are a few things to keep in mind when cooking with beer, and they’re the same rules that apply to pairing a beer to drink with your food.

The first thing to consider is the intensity of the malt and hop flavours, since these features will affect what kind of foods hold up to the flavour of the beer without being overpowered. Milder beers go well with light-coloured, mild-flavoured meats — poultry and seafood come to mind — while beers with more powerful hop and malt tones hold up better against darker, more flavourful meats such as beef and lamb.

It’s also important to take into account the “body” of the brew, meaning how light or heavy a beverage is on the tongue. Remember that this has nothing to do with the colour; a draught Guinness, despite being a dark-coloured beer, is actually quite light in body.

The body of a brew has more to do with the texture of your food. Try to match full-bodied beers with rich foods made with higher-fat ingredients such as cream, cheese or fattier cuts of meat. A really full-bodied beer is heavier on the tongue and may negatively affect the texture of a leaner dish such as vegetables or lean meats.

Another quality of the beer to keep in mind is what flavours it leaves on your tongue — known as the “finish.” These are the flavours you want to match with ingredients in your recipe. If you have a wheat beer with a citrus finish, think of other foods you add lemon and lime juice to, such as fish and other seafood. Many stouts and porters use “chocolate malt,” a type of barley that’s roasted and tends to add cocoa and coffee notes to the brew. These varieties can add depth to a barbecue sauce, or make your chocolate cake more decadent than ever.

And let’s not forget dessert. Most beers have a little bit of sweetness because malted barley releases sugars when boiled in the beer-making process. The yeast ferments some of these sugars, while others remain in the beer to be enjoyed by the imbiber.

Winter is a particularly good season to make desserts using beer because it’s when craft breweries bring out their spiced ales and lagers, which are excellent when mixed into holiday pumpkin pie and gingerbread treats. Lambic beers work well in fruit desserts as well, since these beers are naturally acidic and often flavoured with red berries to accentuate the tartness.

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Graphic: Jessica Hong/The Gateway