Beer with pasta and Italian food beyond pizza

Italy has a beer culture too

Italy is a wine country, but it also has a lively craft beer scene that grew quickly from the 1990s onwards. Italian brewers are known for a crisp, hoppy take on Pilsner, often called Italian Pilsner, as well as beers brewed with local ingredients such as chestnuts and grape must.

For pairing, the key fact is simpler: pasta dishes are built on a few strong flavour bases. Tomato is acidic and sweet. Cream and egg are rich. Hard cheeses are salty and full of umami. Pesto is herbal and oily. Match the base and you have the beer.

Carbonara and cacio e pepe want bubbles

Spaghetti carbonara is made with guanciale (cured pork cheek), egg yolk, pecorino romano and black pepper. Cacio e pepe is just pecorino, black pepper and pasta water, emulsified into a glossy sauce. Both are rich, salty and peppery.

Carbonation and bitterness do the work here. A German or Italian Pilsner at 4.5 to 5.2% ABV, with 25 to 40 IBU, cuts the egg and cheese while its floral hops lift the pepper. A saison is the bolder choice: dry, highly carbonated and peppery itself. Salty cheese makes beer taste less bitter, so a slightly hoppier beer than usual works well.

Tomato sauces suit a malty amber

Tomato sauces range from a simple marinara with garlic and basil to arrabbiata with dried chilli and puttanesca with olives, capers and anchovy. Tomato is acidic, with natural sweetness when cooked down.

Very bitter beers can taste metallic with tomato. An amber lager, a Vienna lager or a Märzen at 18 to 25 IBU brings caramel malt that rounds off the acidity. With arrabbiata, the chilli argues for lower bitterness still: a Vienna lager or even a hefeweizen. Puttanesca, salty and briny, is happy with a crisp Pilsner.

Tomato is also where many home cooks go wrong with beer. A hoppy IPA at 60 IBU next to a sharp marinara can taste like licking a coin. That metallic note is bitterness and acidity amplifying each other. If you only have a hoppy beer, add a spoon of butter or a grating of Parmigiano to the sauce. Fat and salt soften the clash.

Ragù and lasagne want darker malt

Ragù alla bolognese is minced beef and pork cooked slowly with soffritto (onion, carrot and celery), a little tomato, wine and milk. It is rich, meaty and savoury. Lasagne layers ragù with béchamel and cheese.

These can take a fuller beer. A brown ale or a dunkel brings nutty, bready malt that matches the browned meat. A Belgian dubbel, with dried fruit and caramel, is a fine match with a slow cooked ragù, though at 6 to 7.5% ABV a small glass is enough. A Märzen is the lighter, safer option.

Pesto and the green sauces

Pesto alla genovese is basil, pine nuts, garlic, Parmigiano Reggiano, pecorino and olive oil. It is herbal, nutty and rich. Pasta with garlic, olive oil and chilli (aglio, olio e peperoncino) is simpler but in the same family.

Herbal hops suit basil well. A German Pilsner or a Kölsch is a classic choice. A Belgian witbier, with coriander and orange peel, adds a fresh twist. A pale ale with herbal or citrus hops at 30 to 40 IBU also works, especially with the olive oil based sauces where bitterness cuts the oil.

Risotto, seafood pasta and cream sauces

Risotto is rice cooked slowly with stock, finished with butter and Parmigiano. Mushroom risotto is earthy. Seafood pasta, such as spaghetti alle vongole with clams, garlic and white wine, is delicate and briny. Cream sauces, such as a mushroom or Alfredo style pasta, are rich and mild.

Mushroom risotto suits a brown ale or a dunkel, malt against earthiness. Seafood pasta wants a Kölsch or a light Pilsner. Cream sauces need carbonation: a Pilsner, a witbier or a tripel in a small glass. In Indian restaurants, pasta often arrives in pink sauce (tomato and cream) or with extra chilli. Treat pink sauce like tomato and cream together: an amber lager or a witbier. Our guide to beer and food pairing basics explains the logic.

Try a pasta pairing at home

Pasta is the easiest cuisine for a home pairing test because the base is constant and only the sauce changes. Cook two sauces, one tomato and one cream or pesto. Pour a Pilsner and an amber lager. Taste each combination. Most people find the amber suits the tomato and the Pilsner suits the cream or pesto. Serve both at 4 to 7 °C. For another cuisine where delicacy matters, see our guide to beer with sushi and Japanese food.

Your first step: make spaghetti with tomato sauce this week and taste it with a Pilsner and then an amber lager. Note which one makes the tomato taste sweeter.

Common questions

What beer goes with carbonara?

A Pilsner or a saison. Carbonation and bitterness cut the egg and cheese. Salty pecorino also makes the hops taste softer.

What beer suits tomato based pasta?

An amber lager, Vienna lager or Märzen. Caramel malt rounds off tomato acidity better than a very bitter beer.

What beer pairs with pesto?

A German Pilsner, Kölsch or witbier. Herbal hops and citrus notes suit basil. Carbonation cuts the olive oil.