what beer(s) & malt(s) do any of you enjoy simultaneously? unless really on a roll or in a distracting environment, i tend to go with lighter thru medium bodied brews, especially if paring with heavier singles like those of Islay. every now & then i put down a big ass stout with a couple of fingers of Laphroaig or Lagavulin. i'm particularly interested in hearing what combos others think work well & why. Sierra Nevada Pale with Lagavulin 16 or Ardbeg Uigeadail has been complimentary for me on a few occasions. i also enjoyed a Duvel i had with a shot of Talisker Distiller's Edition.
I don't usually drink both at the same time but the smokey character of an Islay would probably go good with a smoked barley wine like old guardian
interesting. i don't very often either, but i wonder how well that would work. i'd be concerned an Islay might overpower the beer's smoke nuances.
I'm probably pretty unimaginative when I do this, but usually the beer is not too hoppy, and leans heavily malty- Scotch Ales, for sure, but the bock family works as well. The region and distiller of the malt will be flexible at that point, because there is nothing much to fight with in the beer. Probably the closest I came to putting a bit of thought into things was in matching Highland Park 12 with a maibock (probably Einbecker)- I remember a nice biscuit-and-honeyish note playing nicely off of each other.
When drinking a single malt Scotch, I don't have beer with it. It impedes my enjoyment of the whisky. When drinking beer I will have a bourbon. They go well together.
