We all know that real ale in its many forms is a tasty drink. However, did you know that it's easy to make some delicious meals with beer as one of the ingredients? To the right are listed 40 recipes to make you lick your lips, sorted into category to make it easier to help you choose exactly what takes your fancy.

Many restaurants across Britain are catching on to the fact that with its vast range of flavours and tastes, real ale is an ideal accompaniment to a meal.

In order to help you decide what will best compliment your meal, CAMRA have come up with a list of what drinks suit which foods:

Starters

Vegetable soups - pale bitters
Meaty soups - malty ales
Shellfish - stouts; porters; Belgian wheat beer
Fish - German lagers; light bitters; Belgian wheat beer
Pate - Milds; strong dark lagers
Quiches/ souffle - light bitters

Main courses

Beef - full bodied bitters
Pork - Pilsners; Bavarian wheat beers; strong dark lagers
Lamb - spicy malty ales; dark lagers
Chicken - lagers; wheat beers
Turkey - malty ales
Duck - kriek
Game - malty ales; trappist ales
Sausages - full bodied bitters, dark lagers, Bavarian wheat beer
Meat pies - full bodied bitters
Barbecue - smoked beers; dark lagers
Oriental - wheat beers; ginger / spiced beers
Curries - strong IPAs; premium lagers
Salads - floral-hopped bitters; nutty malty ales; wheat beers
Pizzas - malty lagers
Ploughmans - hoppy, fruity bitters

Desserts

Mild cheeses - light bitters
Stronger cheeses - full-bodied ales
Mature / blue cheeses - trappist ales; old ales; barley wines
Chocolate/coffee desserts - porters; stouts; belgian fruit beers
Red berry desserts - porters
Apple / banana desserts - bavarian wheat beers
Creamy desserts - stouts
Spiced desserts - bavarian wheat beers

*These guidelines have been taken from CAMRA's Good Bottled Beer Guide 4th Edition, by Jeff Evans