What could be better at this time of year than a proper burger off the barbie and a beer? Nothing, that's what, which is why we asked our beer and food matching panel to put their little grey cells to work on the issue.
The standard approach is to go for the coldest beer possible, but surely there's more to complementing a great burger with a great beer than temperature? Certainly if the panel has anything to say about it.
Ben Bartlett, catering development manager, The Union Pub Company: The ancestor of the modern hamburger arrived at American shores in the 19th century when German immigrants brought with them a dish called Hamburg-style beef, which, in turn, had been brought to Hamburg from Russia some time around the 14th century.
It was in America that this raw, chopped beef would evolve over time to become the succulent patty sandwiched in a bun that we call a hamburger. A premium hamburger should be made from 100 per cent pure fresh beef, select ripe tomatoes and crisp iceberg lettuce in a toasted bun.
Matching a beer depends upon the extras. A spicy red hot chilli burger would be cleansed by a pint of Newcastle Brown Ale (4.7 per cent ABV). A cheese, guacamole and salsa burger would pair with Kronenbourg Blanc (five per cent ABV) and a cheddar cheese and crispy bacon burger would wash down with malty Banks's Original (3.5 per cent ABV).
John Keeling, head brewer, Fuller's: I suggest Discovery, with its use of the American liberty hop, would be a good match for this dish. And if you want something a little more powerful, why not try an American hoppy beer such as Victory Hop Devil, or if you prefer your burger American but your beers English, go for Yankee, from Rooster's, the award-winning Yorkshire microbrewer.
Paul Drye, catering development manager, St Austell Brewery: A truly great burger should be a handcrafted thing of beauty, made with good quality beef and best cooked over a chargrill or barbecue.
With this flavoursome image in mind the first beer I think would go down a treat is Samuel Adams Boston Lager (4.9 per cent ABV). This is a nice dark amber colour with a light caramel sweetness to it, but it's the distinct citrus tones that make this beer so well suited for pairing with the smoky flavours of char-grilled beef.
Along with the amber ales another group of beers well suited to alfresco living are the IPAs. St Austell Brewery's new Proper Job IPA (5.5 per cent ABV) has an assertive hop bitterness, a light clear and refreshing taste with pineapple and citrus tones and an aroma that's evocative of summer evenings. A few sips and you'll soon find yourself reaching for the charcoal and shaping those burgers.
Ben McFarland, beer writer and the real home of the Whopper: When you dig your teeth into the gratifying squelch of succulent beef, slathered with indulgent mayonnaise and whacked between the soft chops of a warm bun, the last thing you want is to be distracted by a complicated beer.
In these circumstances, a beer's responsibility should be restricted to cleansing the grease-ridden palate and preparing one's laughing gear for the next succulent and satisfying bite. Step forward Holsten Pils. Very drinkable, crisp and, best of all, brewed in Hamburg - the spiritual home of the hamburger.
Richard Fox, chef and author: The quality of the food/beer experience here is really going to be led by the nature of the burger. A bought-in, additive-ridden, frozen affair will never set off any flavour fireworks regardless of the beer it's matched with. . In fact, the more flavoursome and artisan the beer, the more it will emphasise the lack of flavour in the burger.
Conversely, take some well seasoned, herb-infused quality minced beef and you can start to match up rich caramelisation underpinned by fresh herbal flavour. This leads to a well-made top-fermented, well balanced ale-style beer such as an IPA or german alt beer. Greene King's award winning IPA or Marstons Old Empire are sure to do justice to a classic burger.
Craft Guild of Chefs member Michael Tuckwood, patron chef at the Stag in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire: Recommending a beer to match with the great American burger isn't very easy because of the amount of fats you need to cut through - especially if it's loaded with all the accompaniments such as cheese and relish.
I would go for something quite dry and sharp with plenty of fizz - perhaps a German weisse beer. Mexican beers like Corona and Dos Equis will work just as well as they too are fizzy.
I would always recommend a bottled beer as they tend to be fizzier and drier, and always an import over an English beer as they tend to hold a lot of flavour. And it has to be drunk out of the bottle - it goes hand in hand with eating a burger. Different toppings would require a different beer, for example, if a burger had a chilli topping something a little more malty would be required in order to get the flavour across. But for me, as a rule of thumb when it comes to burgers it definitely has to be a fizzy beer with plenty of flavour that will explode on the pallet.
Rupert Ponsonby, R&R Teamwork: The cacophony of competing flavours from the seared meat, the salad and its manically competing sauces, make this an easy one; because whatever you choose can't be wrong. For me it's less down to choosing the beer for the food and more about choosing the beer for your mood, or for the evening itself.
So if the sun is shining brightly in my brain and the birds are singing in my ears, I might well "go American" and choose one of their lagers or ales to celebrate American gastronomy at its pinnacle (the burger) - with a Bud or Coors Fine Light for easy refreshment, or Sam Adams Boston Lager, Brooklyn Lager from New York, or the zesty Sierra Nevada Pale Ale from California if I am after meatier brews.
If my mood was more of rumination, like an old bull chewing its cud, I would go for any British beer which oozed a particular flavour. This might include Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted or Deuchars IPA for zesty lemony hops, many of the Badger beers from Dorset and St Peter's from Suffolk for their ginger or fruit flavours or Artois Bock, Theakston's XB or Wychwood's Hobgoblin for beers with sweeter malts.