“Many people may not know why they are ordering wine, but they will most likely be united in the belief that it is the right and proper thing to do,” writes Stephen Beaumont. The passage, in the introduction to his new book The Beer & Food Companion (Jacqui Small, £25) explains how we embraced the grape rather the grain when eating out.

It’s all thanks to the French who laid down the rituals of the restaurant back in the 18th century, from aperitifs and hors d’oeuvres to the word menu itself. We were bound to wash our food down with wine because that’s what they did in France, it being a wine-producing nation. Had we taken out gastronomic cues from Czechoslovakia, Bavaria or French Alsace, things would have been rather different.

Beaumont hails from Toronto and has been writing about beer for 20 years. When I caught up with him, he assured me that he was an omnivore in matters of booze and had a fridge full of wine in his kitchen. “I’m not promoting the idea that beer is better than wine, but it is certainly its equal,” he told me.

In Scotland a couple of centuries back, I suspect many would have agreed. Things were far more fluid as people dined out on Scotch ales and porters as much as claret and Portuguese reds. Over time, beer went the industrialised, big volume route to be glugged back in pubs by the pint, while wine took a more genteel path in its Paris goblet in the restaurant or wine bar.

By 1980 the idea of a book like Beaumont’s would have seemed a complete joke. That was the year an obscure punk band fronted by Max Splodge released Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Please. which amazingly reached number 7 in the UK charts. For many it summed up all you needed to know about food and beer matching.

There’s still a huge amount of inverted snobbery around the subject, but the ever-growing profusion of craft beers is challenging some of that prejudice and perceived wisdom. If you want to find out whether they really are equal to wine at the dinner table, check out Beaumont’s book or come and join me for an evening of food and beer at the Edinburgh New Town Cook School on December 8

(www.entcs.co.uk/beer-and-food-matching-course)

THREE TO TRY THIS WEEKEND

Blanche de Namur 330ml £1.49 Lidl (4.5%)

Floral and full of sweet herbs and spices like coriander, this Belgian wheat beer works well with seafood like mussels, and goat’s cheese.

Black Isle Organic Blonde 500ml £1.65 Tesco, Waitrose (4.5%)

A crisp, grassy, continental-style lager with a nice balance of malt and bitter hops – good with fish & chips.

Willam’s Brother’s Profanity Stout 330ml £1.90 Waitrose (7%)

With its smoky richness and soft texture this is brilliant with cheddar, stilton...in fact, almost any cheese.