Craft Beer and Pizza: 7 Regional Pies and Pints

With three billion pizzas sold in America every year and 350 slices eaten each second, it’s no doubt that we love pizza. And since we also adore beer, it is only fitting that pizza and beer have become quite the dynamic duo. Our pizza obsession lead me to discover these seven regional pizza styles and craft beers made nearby that compliment each unique pie perfectly.

Chicago Deep-Dish & Double IPA

The Windy City is known for Midwest appetites and they have a pizza to match. A deep-dish pizza can easily measure four inches high and requires a knife and fork. To ensure that the cheese doesn’t burn on these pies, the toppings are loaded upside down—cheese, toppings and then sauce. These deep-dish masterpieces are baked in a round steel pan and can be filled with any typical American pizza toppings, but the most popular choices are chunks of juicy Italian sausage, green peppers and mushrooms.

To stand up to this dense pie, grab one of these imperial or double IPAs from Chicago.

New York Thin Crust & Blond Ale

There are an estimated 1,600 pizza places in New York City serving the city’s famous thin-crust style. It’s rumored the crust has a one-of-a-kind flavor due to the mineral content in the city’s water. Quite fitting for the fast-paced city, New York pizza is often served by the slice, folded lengthwise and eaten on the go.

This thin and simple pizza needs the lightness of a blonde ale as to not overshadow its subtle flavors.

Philadelphia Tomato Pie & Fruit Beer

Pizza in America usually consists of three main components: crust, sauce and cheese. But in Philly, they abandon the cheese and make something known as a tomato pie, in which a chewy, bready dough is baked into a square or rectangular shape and covered in rich, slightly sweet, chunky tomato sauce.

Play up the sweet and tart flavors from all of those tomatoes with a fruity beer.

California-Style & Wheat Beer

Made popular by Wolfgang Puck more than 30 years ago, this pizza isn’t characterized by a cooking method, a topping or the crust. California-style is known for leaving off the traditional toppings and instead using fresh or unexpected ingredients like barbecued chicken, arugula, shredded carrots and goat cheese.

Compliment the fresh vegetables on this pie with a lighter wheat beer.

St. Louis-Style & IPA

The St. Louis pizza crust is so thin and crisp, it’s often compared to a cracker. Atop this wafer-like crust, you’ll find an oregano-filled sauce. Finally it’s topped with a unique mixture of cheddar, Swiss, and provolone.

With the boldness of the oregano and more distinctly flavored cheeses, these hoppy IPAs from St. Louis breweries can stand up to the flavors and act as a palate cleanser.

Quad City-Style Pizza & Brown Ale

The pizza dough found in the Quad City—a group of five cities on the Iowa–Illinois boarder—is seasoned and malt-heavy, giving it a toasty taste. Ground cayenne and red chile flakes give the sauce a kick. A thin layer of sauce and toppings, usually ground sausage spiked with fennel, are embellished with a mixture of Italian cheeses. Finally, these pizzas are thin-crusted, meaning Quad City’s pies are relatively fast to make fresh—20 minutes or less, start to finish.

A malty, nutty brown is ideal for the bready crust and flavorful enough to stand up to the spice of the sauce.

New Haven-Style Pizza & Stout or Porter

This Connecticut pizza is cooked at ultra-high heat in a brick oven, taking only a few minutes to reach crispy perfection. Toppings are simple and typical of the rest of the country, except for the white clam pie. The crust of this special pizza is drizzled with olive oil, topped with oregano, chopped garlic and juicy littleneck clams, and served with grated Parmesan cheese.

The silkiness of the clams pairs texturally well with a smooth stout or porter.

Kristen Kuchar, author of Mac n’ Cheese to the Rescue, is a writer and editor that is fortunate enough to cover her greatest interests: travel, food, and craft beer. The Chicago native recently returned from a twenty-one state culinary and beer road trip where her passion in both increased even more. She is also a member of the Pink Boots Society.

Kristen Kuchar

Kristen Kuchar has been writing about the beverage industry for 15 years for a variety of national publications including VinePair, Zymurgy, The Beer Connoisseur, Craftbeer.com, Beer Advocate, Brew Your Own, Thirst Colorado, All About Beer, DRAFT, and dozens more. She is a Certified Beer Server and has a Level 1 Wine Certification with the Wine & Spirit Education Trust while continuing to pursue further wine and beverage education.

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