Pulled pork roll and a smoked Belgian-style pale ale

As those of you who follow our Facebook page may have spotted I was in France last week so you might expect a pairing with a wine from Languedoc. But no: the outstanding match, as with the previous week, was with a beer - and a rather unusual one at that . . .

It was a limited edition cloudy Belgian smoked pale ale from Arbor Ales called De Rokerij which was served at one of their two Bristol pubs, The Three Tuns.

I’d been meaning to go there for a while as they have an in-house street food kitchen called Meat & Bread which, as the name suggests, serves mahoosive meaty sandwiches.

This was actually my husband’s choice, a pulled pork roll with stout BBQ sauce for which I guess the natural pairing would have been a stout but he was intrigued by the beer which was fruity, malty with just a touch of smokiness - not nearly as smoky as a rauchbier. And comparatively modest in alcohol by craft beer standards at 4.9% ABV.

It was a brilliant match, not least when we added our neighbour on the next table’s homemade barbecue sauce which he generously allowed us to try. (Thanks, Steve)

I had the hot dog - a classic, but generous version which paired really well with the Kernel table beer I was drinking.

So I can recommend the Three Tuns both for their beer and their food. Take note they might stop serving earlier than you expect - last orders are taken at 2pm and at 9pm in the evening.