Don’t get me wrong now – I like wine. I really do. I’ve had countless meals where wine has helped elevate the food to a whole new level. There’s no question wine offers us some very exciting pairing possibilities.

But it can’t do everything.

Let us for a moment try and remove the emotion surrounding the issue of whether wine or beer is better with food. After all, I’m pretty biased and I know many of my whiney winey friends are too.

With the application of cold logic that would make Mr Spock proud it is generally accepted that wine has around 400 separate compounds that contribute to its aroma.

It is also generally accepted there are around twice as many relevant substances in beer.

Beer matches more foods than wine. It's only logical.

The same 2:1 ratio applies to flavour compounds. Wine (essentially a single ingredient – grape juice) simply cannot match the myriad of flavours beer offers us because beer embraces an endless number of other ingredients, including spices, herbs, chocolate and liquorice (to name but a few).

So more smells and more flavours increases your chances of finding better matches with beer and food than wine, right? It’s just plain logic!

OK, that’s enough for starters. Let’s move on to the main course. What are the main rules for pairing beer with food?

The first rule is – there are no rules. As with anything to do with taste everything is subjective. The fun of beer and food pairing is in the doing. Only by experimenting will you find the best combinations for your palate.

Matching intensity – if you have a dish with delicate flavours and aromas you don’t want to go battering it with a heavyweight beer. Try and balance the flavour intensity of your beer with your food. For example a green leaf chicken salad would work well with a spritzy pilsner or a Belgium Wit beer whereas a slice of chocolate cake requires the malty muscle of a Belgium Trappist beer or a robust porter.

Work in harmony – there are two main schools of thought when approaching beer and food pairings – compare and contrast. I’m a compare fan, that is I like trying to find harmonising flavours in my food that are also present in my beer. An example would be the sweet malty flavour of a Dunkel beer with roast pork, where the caramelised flavours of the meat meld with the toffee notes in the beer.

Like for Like – Our senses can play tricks on us sometimes. When similar elements are in both your beer and your food they tend to balance each other out rather than build on each other. So a sweet beer with a sweet dessert actually makes both the beer and the dessert less sweet. Acidic foods with acidic beers taste less acidic and hoppy beers served with herby sauces soften each other. Try a rauchbier with a chunk of smoked meat and you’ll see exactly what I mean.

Spice is nice – but only with beer! Since alcohol generally intensifies the burning sensations of spicy food wine is a poor partner to ‘hot’ cuisines. Beer on the other hand performs beautifully, picking up on the spices and helping to putting out the fire.

Think regional – if you’re eating an English shepherds pie the chances are an earthy English bitter will pair perfectly with it. A classic American hamburger isn’t complete with a zingy American Pale Ale to wash it down with. Look at what beers the locals drink when they eat – and copy them!

I hope this small ‘taste’ is enough to get you hungry for more beer and food pairings. Over the next few months I will be posting a series of pairing suggestions with beers that are available at the Systembolaget. Stayed tuned!