What Beer Pairs With Alfredo

Beer is not the most intuitive beverage to pair with the creamy, ultra-rich pasta dish known as fettuccine Alfredo. After all, the dish is Italian in origin -- and the Italians are not known to be big beer drinkers. This doesn't mean, however, that with a little creativity, you can't find a great beer match for this dish. If you're a beer lover, you'll find a handful of rewarding pairings to try.

Abbey tripel or triple, is a Belgian-style ale full of sweet malty flavors, but with a more pronounced hoppy finish than its cousins. This bitter edge of the hops helps cut through the richness of an Alfredo sauce, providing a nice balance between beer and plate, while the sweet malt matches the full flavors of the cream sauce.

Dopplebocks are dark, hearty, malty German-style lagers. Its dark, robust flavors ironically complement a creamy sauce like Alfredo. The sweet malt boosts the subtle flavors in the cream sauce while the bitter under notes prevent the sauce from becoming too cloying in the mouth. You can try a bottle straight from Germany, but several domestic brewers also do a good job with this beer style; look to some of the small Wisconsin labels for some flavorful examples.

Oatmeal stout is even heartier than doppelbock, with a pleasing bitterness reminiscent of coffee and chocolate. Rich plus bitter equals the perfect foil for Alfredo. The best oatmeal stout these days comes from small domestic producers from around the U.S.

India pale ale, commonly abbreviated IPA, is a wildly popular style of ale characterized by a high alcohol content and a particularly strong hoppy finish. The bitter hops edge provides a tasty contrast to the richness of the Alfredo sauce, acting as a palate cleanser between bites. Despite the name, the best India pale ale comes from the U.S.