Food & Beer Culture

What do people eat with beer in Boston? The best-known dish is clam chowder, a thick soup of clams, potatoes, and cream. Its saltiness and richness pair well with a lager that isn't sweet. Boston Lager works here because the caramel malt supports the clams while the hops cut through the cream.

The lobster roll is a soft bun filled with lobster meat, served cold with mayonnaise or warm with butter. The meat tastes faintly sweet. A dry lager or a pale ale accompanies it well, a very bitter IPA would overwhelm it. At Union Oyster House, which claims to have been serving since 1826, oysters and chowder are menu staples.

Boston baked beans are white beans slow-cooked with molasses and bacon. Sweet and smoky, they pair naturally with an amber beer that picks up those same notes. At Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, a pint is simply part of the game.

Irish immigrants shaped the pub, where stout and lager flow from the tap, and the sports bar, where the city's games play on the screens. Patriots' Day, the third Monday in April, is when the Boston Marathon takes place, and it was on this very day in 1985 that the first Boston Lager was poured.

The breweries work closely with restaurants and taprooms. Trillium runs a restaurant in Fort Point and a beer garden in Fenway. Standard pours are the 473 ml pint and the smaller tasting portion.