The Best Beer to Pair With Pizza, According to the Style

Pizza and beer might be the most reliable pairing in the history of food, but "reliable" and "perfect" are two different things. The truth is that the best beer to pair with pizza depends entirely on what kind of pizza is in front of you. A delicate Margherita and a loaded Meat Lover are completely different eating experiences, and they deserve completely different pints.

At BASK46 in Woodland Park, NJ, the brick oven and the tap list live under the same roof, which makes it the perfect place to put pairing theory into practice. Below is a style-by-style guide to matching beer with pizza — with real examples pulled straight from our menu and our beer list.

Why Beer and Pizza Work So Well Together

Before the pairings, a quick word on why this combination works. Pizza brings fat (cheese), acid (tomato sauce), salt, and char from the oven. Beer brings carbonation, bitterness, sweetness, and roasted or fruity flavors depending on the style. Carbonation scrubs fat off your palate between bites, bitterness cuts through richness, and malt sweetness balances acidity and spice. The trick is matching the intensity of the beer to the intensity of the pizza — light with light, bold with bold.

Classic Cheese & Margherita: Reach for a Crisp Lager

Simple pizzas live or die on the quality of their ingredients, so you want a beer that stays out of the way. A clean, crisp lager — think Peroni, Stella Artois, or Miller High Life on tap at BASK46 — has just enough carbonation and light malt character to refresh your palate without steamrolling fresh mozzarella and basil.

Try it with: The BASK 46 Margherita (fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil) or the Original Brick Oven with mozzarella and marinara. The Nonna — plum tomatoes, fresh and shredded mozzarella, garlic, and basil — is another natural fit.

Pepperoni & Meat Lover: Go Amber or Go Home

Cured meats bring salt, spice, and rendered fat, and an amber lager has the toasty malt backbone to stand up to all three. Yuengling Traditional Lager, an American amber on tap at BASK46, is practically engineered for pepperoni — the caramel malt plays off the spicy, salty meat while the lager crispness keeps every bite feeling like the first one.

Try it with: The Pepperoni Special (pepperoni, Jersey fresh tomato, red onions, garlic, and basil) or the Meat Lover, stacked with bacon, meatballs, sausage, and pepperoni. If you want to level up, a malty Oktoberfest-style Märzen from the rotating tap list works beautifully here too.

Buffalo Chicken & Spicy Pies: IPA Territory

Heat and hops are a famous pairing for a reason. The bold citrus and pine bitterness of an American IPA amplifies spice in a way that heat-seekers love, while the beer’s bracing finish resets your palate for the next slice. BASK46 keeps serious IPA options on draft — Stone IPA and Voodoo Ranger for the classic West Coast bite, or Kane’s Head High if you want a beloved New Jersey brew with your Jersey pizza.

Try it with: The Buffalo Chicken pizza (breaded buffalo chicken, red onions, and hot or mild buffalo sauce) or the Hot & Spicy Upside Down, built cheese-first with spicy marinara on top. Prefer the heat softened rather than amplified? Jump down to the wheat beer section.

BBQ Chicken & Hawaiian: Hazy and Juicy Wins

Sweet-and-smoky pizzas want a beer with fruit character and a softer bitterness. New England-style hazy IPAs and juicy pale ales deliver tropical, citrusy notes that echo BBQ sauce’s sweetness and pineapple’s brightness without the aggressive bite of a West Coast IPA. On the BASK46 tap list, look for Hazy Little Thing, Wrench NEIPA, or the Grateful Dead Juicy Pale Ale.

Try it with: The BBQ Chicken (breaded chicken, sliced jalapeños, bacon, red onions, and BBQ sauce) or the Raging Hawaiian, which piles pineapple, jalapeños, and bacon onto one gloriously controversial pie.

White Pizza & Veggie Pies: Wheat Beer’s Moment

White pizzas swap tomato sauce for ricotta, olive oil, and garlic — rich, creamy flavors that pair beautifully with the soft citrus and coriander notes of a Belgian-style witbier. Allagash White and Belgian White on tap at BASK46 both bring that orange-peel brightness that cuts through creamy cheese, and they’re just as good with vegetable-forward pies.

Try it with: The White pizza (ricotta, olive oil, parmesan, and mozzarella), the Spinach & Artichoke pie with fresh garlic and pecorino romano, the Garden of Eden with spinach, tomatoes, ricotta, and feta, or the classic Veggie Lover.

Mushroom & Earthy Pizzas: Think Golden Ale or Pale Lager

Earthy toppings like rosemary mushrooms and truffle oil have savory depth that a bright, balanced beer complements without competing. A golden ale like Kona Big Wave or a smooth pale lager lets umami-rich toppings shine while adding a gentle malt sweetness underneath.

Try it with: The Funghi — rosemary mushrooms, fontina and mozzarella, onion confit, and truffle oil. It’s one of the most flavor-dense pies on the BASK46 menu, and a lighter beer is exactly what it needs.

Sausage & Broccoli Rabe: Balanced Ales for Bitter Greens

Broccoli rabe brings pleasant bitterness and sausage brings richness, so you want a beer that bridges both. A balanced pale ale or a smooth amber handles the job — enough hop character to match the greens, enough malt to support the sausage.

Try it with: The Rocky Marciano, loaded with sautéed broccoli rabe, garlic, sausage, mozzarella, and shaved parmesan. A true heavyweight, as the name suggests.

Fig, Blue Cheese & Prosciutto: Time for Something Bold

Sweet-and-savory pies with strong cheeses can stand up to the biggest beers in the house. A dry Irish stout like Guinness plays its roasted, coffee-like notes against sweet figs and funky blue cheese for a genuinely memorable pairing. Feeling adventurous? Ask what imperial stouts are pouring — when something like Bourbon County Brand Stout hits the BASK46 taps, it turns a fig-and-blue pizza into a dessert course.

Try it with: The Fig & Blue (figs, blue cheese, mozzarella, arugula, onion confit, and balsamic glaze) or the Arugula pie with prosciutto, roasted red peppers, and shaved parmesan.

The "I Just Want a Cold Beer" Pairing

No shame in it. If you’re watching the game and want something light and endlessly drinkable with whatever pizza hits the table, BASK46 pours Coors Light, Michelob ULTRA, and Modelo Especial on tap, plus bottles of Bud Light, Corona, Miller Lite, and Heineken — including Heineken 0.0 if you’re skipping alcohol but not the pairing fun. Light lagers are the universal donors of pizza pairing: they go with everything.

Quick Pairing Cheat Sheet

Margherita / Cheese: Crisp pale lager (Peroni, Stella Artois)

Pepperoni / Meat Lover: Amber lager (Yuengling Traditional Lager)

Buffalo Chicken / Spicy: American IPA (Stone IPA, Head High, Voodoo Ranger)

BBQ Chicken / Hawaiian: Hazy IPA or juicy pale ale (Hazy Little Thing, Wrench NEIPA)

White / Veggie: Witbier (Allagash White, Belgian White)

Funghi / Earthy: Golden ale (Big Wave)

Fig & Blue / Bold: Stout (Guinness)

Taste It for Yourself in Woodland Park, NJ

Reading about the best beer to pair with pizza is one thing — tasting it is better. BASK46 fires every pizza in a brick oven and keeps a rotating lineup of drafts and bottles behind the bar, so you can test any pairing on this list (or invent your own) in one sitting. Find us at 1530 US-46 in Woodland Park, NJ — minutes from Totowa and Little Falls — browse the full pizza menu and the current beer list, and come thirsty. The oven’s hot and the taps are cold.