Food & Wine

Oisín Davis on spirits: Seek and savour the world of Irish beer and whiskey pairing

From pilsner to red ale, there’s a beer to go with every whiskey, according to beer sommelier and lecturer Judith Boyle

Ireland's breweries and distilleries have never produced such vast quantities and varieties of both beers and whiskies, so there's a lot to choose from from when it comes to pairings. Picture: Getty

From my many decades of working and hanging out with them, I can confidently say that lovers of fine Irish beers will usually have the same levels of affection for fine Irish whiskeys. After all, both liquids have practically the same DNA, each of them being made with virtually identical core ingredients.

No wonder, then, that for so many centuries we Irish have enjoyed them with such gusto, whether sipped side by side or with ...