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St. Patrick’s Day Beer Pairings

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with our favorite Irish beers paired with festive eats and sweets.

Mark Boughton/ styling: Teresa Blackburn

Any Irish lad or lassie will tell you, “It isn’t St. Patrick’s Day without a pint.” The emerald isle’s countless classic beers beg to be served alongside ale infused St. Patty’s Day dinner and dessert recipes. This March 17th harness the luck of the Irish with our favorite savory and sweet pairings:

Savory Pairing:

Smithwick’s Irish Red Ale and Irish Potato Soup with Cheese and Red Ale

One of Irelands oldest brewed beers, Smithwick’s Red Ale has a caramel maltiness, bready flavor and relatively thin mouthfeel. The light taste and low alcohol content makes Smithwick’s a smooth and easy-to-sip beer that pairs well with just about any meal. For St. Patrick’s day we love the idea of serving a pint alongside creamy potato soup spiked with—you guessed it—red ale.

Sweet Pairing:

Guinness Draught with Black and Tan Brownie

Arguably Ireland’s most famous beer, Guinness Draught is an intensely dark stout with a rich malt flavor featuring both coffee and chocolate undertones. We suggest balancing the luxuriously rich brew with a batch of chewy black and tan brownies. Not only do these brownies feature the comparatively lighter Guinness Stout in their recipe, but they also mimic the layered colors and richness found in a glass of Guinness.

For more recipes to pair with pints, see our collection of St. Patrick’s Day recipes below.

—By Emily Arno

Irish Stout Cheese-Stuffed Burgers

These burgers are stuffed with Irish stout-flavored Dubliner cheese for a rich melding of flavors.

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Guinness Stout Chocolate Layer Cake

Guinness stout is so rich in vitamins and minerals it is given to nursing moms in Ireland—or so the rumor goes. The drizzle for this ridiculously delicious deep chocolate cake employs the toastiness and the heady, spicy aromatics of the beverage to very good use.