Would sir and madam prefer the Trashy Blonde with the mussels or the full-bodied Australian with the chicken legs? If you're not used to seeing beer recommendations alongside wine at your favourite restaurant, things may be about to change; the UK's Beer Academy has this month launched a beer sommelier qualification to encourage more beer lists on food menus.

A new generation of beer aficionados descended on the Great British Beer Festival this week. Among this new wave are a growing number of influential figures who champion the matching of beer and food.

Take Tim Anderson, this year's UK MasterChef winner. Before all that, he was manager at the boutique American craft beer bar Euston Tap and he recently put his knowledge to good use, teaming up with Scotland's BrewDog to produce Mr Squirrel, a beer specifically created to partner Japanese-inspired food. We've already seen El Bulli's superlative-laden chef, Ferran Adrià, produce his own "gastronomic" beer. And why not? If beer has the scope to marry with food, then shouldn't it be able to do so at all levels?



Yet, for all the renewed curiosity in beer, wine continues to captivate foodies. Overall UK beer sales continue to evaporate. One of my favourite places to eat in Nottingham, Edin's, stocks a wealth of wine but only a token range of beers, and this is typical of many good restaurants. Why? Is wine's popularity at the dinner table simply down to image? The British Beer & Pub Association will tell you that beer is often portrayed in media coverage of binge drinking, and wine is not. This, beer supporters say, propels the widely-held notion that wine is sophisticated, while beer is seen struggling to suppress its inner lager lout.

Enraged beer activists have taken to Twitter. Their leader is Cumbria-based brewer HardKnott Dave (Bailey) and producers on the BBC's Saturday Kitchen will not sleep easy until Dave succeeds in crowbarring beer recommendations onto the food show (via a complaint to Ofcom).

The idea of a pint with food is hardly new territory, but Dave and his followers are seeking to encourage conscious choice by aiming to marry beers with everything from stodge to hotpots to Michelin-star purées. He is not alone, as Guardian writer Fiona Beckett would attest, having written a book on the subject in 2007.

More recently, we have seen active attempts to unseat wine. Earlier this year, Suffolk brewer Adnams and licensee Mitch Adams, of the Thatchers Arms, launched a self-styled "ultimate battle of the beverages", in which beer beat wine with most dishes. Another is planned for this October. The British Beer & Pub Association did something similar in 2007, and Saturday Kitchen took part.

But don't think I exclude wine - it's all about context; sometimes I love a chilled glass of Picpoul de Pinet with white fish or mussels. But sometimes I'd rather have a pint of Castle Rock's Harvest Pale or a German wheat beer like Schneider Weisse Tap 7.

Beer is also a total winner with desserts. The caramel, coffee and chocolate notes of a porter, like Pitfield's Organic 1850 London Porter, is magic with dishes like tiramisu and dark chocolate gateau. Fruit beers like Früli, a more obvious choice perhaps, work with Black Forest gateau, while a Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale that I tried recently would definitely hit the spot with vanilla and cherry cheesecake. Generally, it is said that stronger beers work better with stronger foods, but there are no hard and fast rules, but you can find some useful tips here. And don't always think in pints; small is often beautiful.

A Great British Beer Festival-goer tucks into a sandwich. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian

Personally, I'm sceptical about how many people take drinks and food matching that seriously yet. It's a shame that the Campaign for Real Ale, for all its espousing of food and beer, seems unable to seize the initiative. Food stalls at this week's festival serve more to recreate the authentic, hunger-ravaged trip home from the local boozer after a few pints. True, there were a few olives among the pies this time around, but there were no scheduled beer and food matching sessions in the festival timetable. A missed opportunity? I don't sell beer, but in the context of people missing out on experiences that they might enjoy, I would say "yes".

That said, I'm cautious about how far to take beer up the fine dining ladder. To me, there is something comfortingly casual about beer. It is in the age of the gastropub (can we please, please develop a new term?), and the casual dining that it preaches, that I think this new generation of beers should thrive. What about you? Do you often drink beer with food? If so, what are your favourite combinations? If it was available, would you order beer at a Michelin restaurant or is there still a stigma around it?