Pizza and beer: what combination

What to drink when you eat pizza?

In a pizzeria or at home, the combination "pizza & beer" is the preferred one and follows a now consolidated tradition: according to surveys, a third of Italians prefer to accompany beer with pizza, while the percentage of those who choose wine is much lower (8%) or soft drinks (16%).

Compared to wine or other drinks, in fact, beer is able to better balance the characteristics of freshness and fizziness, giving very balanced taste-olfactory sensations, which complete its consistency and its flavour, almost always quite decisive.

Why do you drink beer with pizza?

Firstly, the beer is always sparkling and this peculiarity defines and enhances the flavor of the different ingredients.

In selecting the "right" beer, however, a technical detail must be considered: both pizza and beer contain yeasts and, once taken together, they can cause a sense of heaviness and digestive difficulties.

To avoid this eventuality, it is absolutely recommended to always choose quality beers and combine the characteristics of the drink with the ingredients contained in the pizza.

Which beer to choose?

The choice of beer is so popular that many pizzerias prepare special menus in which they offer a different beer for every pizza taste: completely intuitively, given the many variations of this timeless dish, the possible combinations are also unlimited.

The most practical system for personally identifying the beer suitable for enhancing pizza is the one based on experimenting with flavours: once you have discovered the combination that presents the most pleasing characteristics of harmony to the individual palate, it will be enough to repeat the choice according to the ingredients contained in the pizza.

Pairing examples

Generally speaking, the more the pizza is "rich" and more complex, the more the beer to accompany the dish must be structured.

A white pizza or a 'Margherita', delicate and with few ingredients, should be accompanied by a Lager or Pils beer, slightly bitter and with a low alcohol content, such as a Paulaner Weiss or a Belgian La Chouffe blonde, refreshing and light craft beer.

If there are vegetables or grilled vegetables in the pizza, it is preferable to choose a Blanche beer, fresh, clear and not very structured, such as the German Löwenbräu and Hofbräu, typical Weizen wheat beers.

Pizzas with a prevalence of dairy-based ingredients (such as the 'Quattro cheese'), or rich in important cured meats such as speck, go well with Strong Ale double malt beers, such as the red Moretti: aromatic and alcoholic, these types of beers support fat flavors well and rebalance them.

Abbey beers, such as the Bonne Esperance, with its amber color and pleasant honey flavour, go ideally with strong and spicy flavours, therefore they will be perfect with pizza with porcini mushrooms and with the 'Diavola', but also with those which include numerous ingredients, such as the 'Quattro Stagioni' or the 'Capricciosa'.

Tips for enjoying a good pizza in company

The pairing of beer with pizza is optimal not only when dining out, but also when organizing an evening at home with friends: personally preparing pizzas to share with friends is one of the most pleasant and gratifying culinary activities, which also becomes very easier with the help of the proper cooking tools.

In fact, pizza needs to be cooked in the oven at very high temperatures: Spice electric ovens have all the ideal functional characteristics for cooking pizza to perfection and, thanks to the ability to maintain the right temperature for a long time internal, offer the possibility of preparing several pizzas in sequence.

If, on the other hand, you want to spend the evening in the garden, you can decide to use the Spice Diavola 16 gas oven, specifically designed for outdoor use and with a cooking system that replicates that of professional ovens, always ensuring the creation of excellent pizzas.