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Beef and Ale stew. What on earth could be more British? Well, Hugh has a point. Roast Chicken could be it. Frankly, I am more than happy with either.

Beer is being taken more seriously than at any time since before the second world war.

Joe Wadsack

So what tasty British drinks can we summon up with these heartiest of dishes? If you want to explore flavours, drink beer! There’s far less risk with taking the odd pot shot at a beer you’ve never seen before than risking a taxi fare on a strange bottle of wine. There are probably as many good beer and cider matches as there are great wine matches with food, and that’s me talking, a fully paid up member of the old guard wine snob brigade. Beer is being taken more seriously than at any time since before the second world war. There’s and amazing choice out there. Go and experiment.

Today though, I have decided to celebrate some of the classics of the British beer world.

Tom’s beef and ale stew with dumplings

1. Fullers 1845 Strong Ale (£2 Ocado, Sainsbury's Morrisons)

For me, this is a true classic. Based on a Victorian brown ale recipe, this rich, malty robust beer is THE perfect match for beef stew or a traditional roast beef lunch. There’s a lot of flavour. I even pour it in a large wine glass to get the best out of it. Not as dry as a session bitter, the dark malt is richer and more caramelised. This is a beer that I prefer with food than on its own, but boy what a bottle of joy. It cuddles you on the inside.

2. Innis and Gunn Oak Aged Beer (£1.79 for 330ml, Widely available, Morrisons, Tesco, Waitrose)

Founded a little over ten years ago, this Scottish beer really changed people’s perception of what ale could be like. Slowly fermented in oak barrels, this beer has a seamless silky flavour and a subtle veneer of sweet vanilla and brioche. I can only image how delicious this beer would be brioche and butter pudding. How versatile does a drink have to be to also be a great match with a rich beefy stew and dumplings?! Not surprisingly, it is fantastic with haggis and a highland malt chaser.

3. Timothy Taylor Boltmaker (£2.19 for 500ml, Tesco)

One of the defining breweries of Great Britain, Timothy Taylor, in Keighley, West Yorkshire achieved global recognition when Madonna declared that she liked their pale ale, ‘Landlord’, so much that she had it on draught in her house. Their beers are bottled on a refreshing low level of carbonation, so pours very much like a pint on the pub. The Boltmaker reminds me very much of their even better, rarer cask ale, Golden Best. The perfect take home pint, stew and dumplings or no stew and dumplings.

Hugh’s roast chicken with fruity spelt

1. Worthington White Shield (£2.15 Morrisons, Tescos, Waitrose)

I have chosen brighter sunnier paler beers to go with Hugh’s roast chicken treat. Because the beer has been bottled with live yeast, it is capable of ageing and improving for a considerable amount of time. I myself have tasted White Shield from the eighties, and I have a friend with unopened bottles from the fifties and sixties. Yeah! Chew on that, Mr. Bordeaux collector! Although it is now owned by the largest brewing conglomerate in the world, Molson Coors, I still love it. It is made in its own isolated tower brewery in the erstwhile mecca of English brewing, Burton-on-Trent. Isn’t it about time someone opened a brewery there again and kept the traditional brewing dream alive? Rich malty and lemony. Wonderful, beautifully balanced beer.

2. Hopback Brewery Summer Lightning (£1.99 for 500ml Waitrose, Tesco, ASDA)

This is the first strong pale that I regularly drank in my twenties. It seemed revolutionary at the time. Still a modern benchmark of cask beer-making, this started off life being brewed beneath my local hostelry, the Wyndham Arms in Salisbury, my father would take me to play the weekly pop quiz on a Monday. It is now one of Britain’s most successful and decorated beers. Drink rain or shine. A beer is not just for summer it’s for life. Bright, fruity, refreshing and moreish.

3. Heather Ales Fraoch (£2.09 for 500ml from )

A brilliant website for exploring all sorts of beer styles, I strongly recommend you take a look. This a beer I used to sell in my wine shop back in the early nineties. It is nicely biter with a floral fragrant nose, on account of heather honey being used in it manufacture. Back in ancient times, before the age of modern brewing, heather was used but in its dried state as an alternative to the much rarer hops also. I real throw back to our origins, and a stunning herbal accompaniment to Hugh’s fruity spelt and rich free range chicken. Drink it with the chicken liver.

*Please note that the retailers and prices listed were last updated on 22nd December 2014, and these drinks may also be available at different retailers.