Suitable Snacks To Eat When Drinking Beer
- By Steven Hooch
- Published 11/18/2011
- Food and Drink
- Unrated
Wine lovers, stop turning up your noses at beer lovers! Indeed, with the many ingredients that come into making beers from ales and lagers to speciality beers, there are numerous food pairings possible than with wines. Consider this fact: Wine only has one main ingredient: grapes. Beers have many ingredients including barley to add sweetness, hops for bitterness, yeast for the bread flavours, and countless other possible ingredients to add flavours. Think of nuts, chocolates, spices, fruits and vegetables and you have an idea of the countless ways that beers can be enjoyed either on their own or paired with foods from apples to courgettes.
Principles of Pairing:
Before pairing your favourite beer with snacks, among other food choices, it pays to know a few of the food pairing principles. When you know the basics, you can experiment with unexpected pairings that tickle the taste buds and bring out the best in the food-beverage combination. Here are a few of these principles:
Complement or contrast - never both at the same time - the flavours between the food and the beverage. Find commonalities between the two and then work on them. Thus, spicy pale ale will go well with spicy Mexican tortillas for complementary pairings while a dry, bitter stout goes well with sweet, raw oysters for contrasting pairs.
Pair light dishes with light beers and heavy dishes with heavy beers. The rationale is that the flavours of the beer should neither overwhelm nor be overwhelmed by the flavours of the food it is being paired with. The beers with a light body are lager, pilsner and wheat; beers with a medium body are ale, bock and IPA; and beers with a
heavy body are stout, porter and barley wine.
Serve the beer with a temperature of 40 degrees F and 50 degrees F.
Food and Beer Pairings:
From these principles, you can start to experiment with the food and beverage pairings that will suit your taste preferences. Take a look at the many possibilities below for the snacks and beers pairings. Take note that what may be a snack to you may not be necessarily so for another person, thus, the inclusion of meat and fish dishes.
Breads and pastries can be paired with a wide variety of beer styles. Crisp lager and honey ale can be paired with whole grain and multi-grain breads topped with a light spread. Amber ale and cream ale go best with sweet breads and light breads with sweet toppings. Stouts and porters are flavourful with dark chocolate pastry and rye bread.
If you are into spicy dishes as snacks when watching games on television, try the Indian pale ale and strong pale ale with Indian curry and tandoori. Dark lager, amber ale and cream ale work for chicken wings with hot sauce while porters and stouts go best with ultra-spicy Thai and Mexican dishes.
Barbecued meat and beers are the best combination. Go for pale, amber and cream ale for smoked salmon, ribs and hamburgers. Honey ale and pilsner are delicious with garlic prawns and pork loins while light lager goes well with grilled vegetables and baked potatoes. And of course, let's not forget the chips, peanuts and other finger foods. Indian pale ale, stout and dark ale are best for jalapeno chips while amber and cream ales are great for chips with barbecue flavour. Peanuts go great with honey ale and honey lager.
And the list goes on and on for food and beer pairings. Try your own pairing and discover your own favourites.
Principles of Pairing:
Before pairing your favourite beer with snacks, among other food choices, it pays to know a few of the food pairing principles. When you know the basics, you can experiment with unexpected pairings that tickle the taste buds and bring out the best in the food-beverage combination. Here are a few of these principles:
Complement or contrast - never both at the same time - the flavours between the food and the beverage. Find commonalities between the two and then work on them. Thus, spicy pale ale will go well with spicy Mexican tortillas for complementary pairings while a dry, bitter stout goes well with sweet, raw oysters for contrasting pairs.
Pair light dishes with light beers and heavy dishes with heavy beers. The rationale is that the flavours of the beer should neither overwhelm nor be overwhelmed by the flavours of the food it is being paired with. The beers with a light body are lager, pilsner and wheat; beers with a medium body are ale, bock and IPA; and beers with a
Serve the beer with a temperature of 40 degrees F and 50 degrees F.
Food and Beer Pairings:
From these principles, you can start to experiment with the food and beverage pairings that will suit your taste preferences. Take a look at the many possibilities below for the snacks and beers pairings. Take note that what may be a snack to you may not be necessarily so for another person, thus, the inclusion of meat and fish dishes.
Breads and pastries can be paired with a wide variety of beer styles. Crisp lager and honey ale can be paired with whole grain and multi-grain breads topped with a light spread. Amber ale and cream ale go best with sweet breads and light breads with sweet toppings. Stouts and porters are flavourful with dark chocolate pastry and rye bread.
If you are into spicy dishes as snacks when watching games on television, try the Indian pale ale and strong pale ale with Indian curry and tandoori. Dark lager, amber ale and cream ale work for chicken wings with hot sauce while porters and stouts go best with ultra-spicy Thai and Mexican dishes.
Barbecued meat and beers are the best combination. Go for pale, amber and cream ale for smoked salmon, ribs and hamburgers. Honey ale and pilsner are delicious with garlic prawns and pork loins while light lager goes well with grilled vegetables and baked potatoes. And of course, let's not forget the chips, peanuts and other finger foods. Indian pale ale, stout and dark ale are best for jalapeno chips while amber and cream ales are great for chips with barbecue flavour. Peanuts go great with honey ale and honey lager.
And the list goes on and on for food and beer pairings. Try your own pairing and discover your own favourites.
Steven Hooch
Steven Hooch is a leading connoisseur for a variety of fine wines and ales. He has been sharing his insights and reviews for over 11 years striving to provide expert advice and information on a wide range of alcoholic beverages including beer.
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