Beer with food - Partnerships that make the grain

How are some of the country's top gastro pub chefs matching beer with dishes on their menus? Humayun Hussain finds out.

 Harry Lester, Anchor & Hope, Waterloo, London​

 Bombardier with shin of beef in red wine​This is the pub's house beer and, according to Harry, "makes a refreshing counterpoint to the sharpness of the wine in which the meat has been marinated for a week". The beef is supplied by a farm in Hereford and, after the marination, is put in a large pot with onions, garlic, carrots, celery, bay leaf, rosemary and juniper berries and cooked on a low heat for 10 hours. The sauce takes on a silky and lush flavour. "We have a weekly changing guest ale," says Harry, "but Bombardier is one of those beers that I think always works as the perfect partner for a good meat dish."

 Grant Murray, White Swan, Fetter Lane, London EC4​

 Bombardier with cep and snail fricassee​"This beer has a very flowery, berry-like taste that goes well with the classical dish made of snails," says Grant. The fresh snails are blanched in poaching liquor for half a minute them removed. Grant then adds shallots, Alsace bacon, carrots, parsnips and celeriac to the pan. Finally, the snails are added and the pan is tossed over high heat. It's deglazed with port, which is then reduced. The dish is finished off with tarragon, green peas and butter. To garnish, slithers of cep are placed on top. "The Bombardier and the snails make for an intense combination," says Grant.

 Piers Baker, The Sun Inn, Dedham, Essex​

 Brewer's Gold with Gloucester Old Spot pork belly and black bean stew ​The beer comes from Crouch Vale Brewery in South Woodham Ferrers, Essex, and was hailed the Supreme Champion Beer of Britain at the Great British Beer Festival last year. "This is a pale, refreshing and hoppy beer with a gorgeous aroma of tropical fruits," says Piers. The dish has Portuguese leanings with a rich and spicy taste. Slow cooked for three to four hours, the dish also has some lean pork shoulder meat added to it, along with black pudding and paprika. "It's a big and flavoursome dish," adds Piers, "and when both the beer and the pork belly re being consumed, due to its acidic taste, the beer doesn't get drowned out by the smoky flavour of the pork."

 Carl Shaw, Bull's Head, Ashford in the Water, Derbyshire​

 Old Stockport Bitter with steak and Old Stockport Pie​Locally brewed in Stockport, the beer has a light balance of malt and hops rounded out with a bitter-sweet finish. It's also an ingredient in the pie, which includes braising steak, onion, button mushrooms and tomato purée, and is served with braised red cabbage and beef dripping roast potatoes. Says Carl: "It isn't a very strong beer with just over 3% alcohol, so it complements the pie very well. We always have the pie on the menu and our customers can't get enough of it!"

 David Edward, Three Fishes, Mitton, Lancashire​

 Thwaite's Lancaster Bomber with Lancashire hot pot​A local beer which has a good body with a malty aftertaste, it cuts through the sweetness of the meat, which is neck and under-shoulder of Bowland lamb. "It's a very popular match with our customers," says David. "The beer isn't wishy-washy, it's midweight and has length so it stays on the palate right the way through. It partners the hot pot to good effect and has that almost perfect winter-dish-and-beer feel about it."

 Jean-Claude Vydelighan, The Well, Farringdon, London​

 Leffe with steamed mussels and Leffe beer, shallots, garlic and basil​"This Belgian beer is a little sweeter than most other beers we stock," says Jean-Claude. "It has a deep, rounded and slightly acidic flavour which goes really well with the mussels." Jean-Claude also uses the beer as an ingredient in the dish and, once the mussels have been steamed and removed, the remaining liquor incorporating the beer is reduced to use again with the mussels, giving off a strong and intense flavour.

 Tom Kerridge, Hand & Flowers, Marlow, Buckinghamshire​

 Abbot Ale with red wine braised shin of beef with herb dumpling and parsnip purée.​A relatively strong cask bitter with a distinctive and yeasty flavour. "The beef," says Tom, "is marinated in red wine for 48 hours. It's then seared to a nice crust and poached in red wine and veal stock. It's then braised for two-and-a-half hours. The dumpling is suet pudding with freshly chopped thyme and parsley. The parsnip purée is made fresh every service with ingredients including milk, cream and butter. I find both the bitter and the dish have lovely robust flavours and it makes for a truly memorable meal."

 Hugh Dennis-Jones, King William, Bath​

 Stout with pot-roast beef brisket and horseradish pudding.​A local stout which comes both on tap and bottled. It has a smooth, roast malted flavour with a hint of dark bitter chocolate and coffee. "The brisket offers a very autumnal flavour," says Hugh. "It's slow cooked with lots of root vegetables such as parsnips, turnips and swede. There are also herbs like parsley and thyme, which I add. The pudding is made from suet to which I add grated beetroot, horseradish and cream, along with stock from carrots, leeks and onions. Both the stout and the dish are very robust and utterly delicious."

 Simon Bonwick, Black Boys Inn, Hurley, Berkshire​

 Leffe with sautéed calf's sweetbread with choucroute and grain mustard sauce​."I like this beer," says Simon, "because it has a very refreshing and almost addictive taste, which is a good sign of a beer." The sweetbread is cooked and roasted in butter with a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Served medium-rare with sauerkraut, smoked pig belly, carrots and smoked knuckle, the end result, adds Simon, is "milky and sublime with the beer standing up very well against this mighty offal dish."

 Scott Wade, The Gun, Docklands, London​

 Brakspear with venison stew ​"I find this beer quite bitter," Scott says. "But it's also very aromatic and traditional." His venison stew is a simple and earthy dish, the recipe for which he admits taking from a 1970s cookbook. Aside from the venison, the dish includes prunes, baby onions, stock and salt and pepper. "It's a very hearty dish and the Brakspear's goes well with it because it cuts right through its richness so there is no cloying."