Reimagining the Traditional Pairing of German Beer and Pork

A good German wheat beer, called a hefeweizen or weissbier, has distinct characteristics that make it unique. Anyone who has become familiar with this style will recognize its cloudy, unfiltered appearance, and the aroma and flavors of banana, citrus and spices. A hefeweizen is a delicious, refreshing beer that's great for enjoying any time of the year. Its darker sibling, the dunkelweizen, offers all the elements of a hefeweizen, but with another layer of malty depth.

Like a hefeweizen, at least 50 percent of the grains used in a dunkelweizen recipe must be malted wheat. The remainder of the grains used are Vienna or Munich malts, giving it a richer, maltier character and darker appearance. Noble hops provide bitterness, but their influence is minimal and hard to detect. Fermentation with weizen ale yeast gives this beer its signature fruity esters and spiciness, and the finished product is an approachable, easy-drinking darker wheat beer. Dunkelweizen is perfect on its own, but also pairs very well with a wide variety of foods due to its complex, yet tame, flavor profile.

I recently paired one dunkelweizen from Germany, the Erdinger Weissbrau Hefeweizen Dunkel, with a favorite light and flavorful recipe that brought out the best in the food and beer. The meal, which my wife, Kris, makes often, is a salad that features a bed of spinach and anjou pears that's topped with pieces of pork tenderloin. The pork has been cooked with a mixture of dried cranberries, shallots, Dijon mustard, thyme, garlic, and several other ingredients. The dunkelweizen complements the meal perfectly - the spices cooked into the pork are met with the beer's subtle spiciness, the pear and cranberries are balanced with the fruity esters from the yeast, and the darker malts stand up well to the pork's flavors. This is the kind of food and beer pairing that's sure to please and satisfy a wide range of palates.

Many American craft breweries have embraced the dunkelweizen style, either in regular rotation or as a seasonal offering. Seek them out and give them a try at breweries and taprooms. If you're looking to enjoy one at home, I don't often see dunkelweizens packaged for distribution, so German imports from breweries like Erdinger, Ayinger, Schneider Weisse and Hacker-Pschorr are probably your best bet.