I sincerely hope this doesn’t somehow come across as a knock against Highland Gaelic Ale — which is a fine beer — but it goes perfectly with this subpar Chinese takeout. Really, the Gaelic is a very good amber ale. Primo. It just happens to pair remarkably well with a less-than-mediocre food dish.
The food came from a nondescript typical Chinese takeout place in Alabama. General Tso’s is the standard by which I judge all Chinese joints, and this iteration was not high quality at all. As sweet as candy and no spicy heat at all. Fun to eat in a junk food sort of way, but not gourmet cuisine.
But the Gaelic classed the meal up quite a bit, offering a beautiful malty sweet compliment to the General Tso’s. Only the Gaelic Ale is not cloying, so it actually reduced the sickly sweet flavor of the chicken. And the chicken’s sweetness somehow brought out some interesting notes from the caramel malt that weren’t otherwise obvious, actually improving the experience of drinking the beer.
Call me crazy, but I’m going to rate this pairing as “perfection,” not because the food was particularly good, but because sometime in life you might find yourself eating crappy Chinese takeout and knowing which beer to put with it to improve the overall experience would be helpful.
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