This upcoming Sunday, enjoy some of the best party-ready recipes out there! Beer is always a fan favorite, no matter what team you’re rooting for! In addition to the familiar brand name beers, craft beers have become increasingly popular, and are certainly delicious! Here are some tips to match with the food being served at your party.
Principles of Matching Beer with Food
- Strongly-flavored foods demand assertive beers. With beer, flavor intensity involves a variety of qualities such as alcoholic strength, malt character, hop bitterness, sweetness, richness and roast flavors.
- Combinations often work best when food and beverage share some common flavor or aroma elements. The nutty flavor of English-style brown ale and a handmade cheddar cheese are always a go-to combination!
- Consider sweetness, bitterness, carbonation, heat (spice) and richness. Specific characteristics of food and beer interact with each other in predictable ways. Taking advantage of these interactions ensures that the food and beer will balance each other, creating a desire for a taste of the other.
Serving Suggestions and Beer Pairings
- Chicken Wings: Wings come in many flavors and styles.
- Traditional Hot Wings are spicy and hot. An American Pale Ale or an IPA (India Pale Ale) will work nicely to cut through the spicy heat. Try Sierra Nevada Pale Ale for a great taste!
- Pizza: Classic for all parties, especially when there is a big game involved!
- American Amber Lager with pizza, go with a Brooklyn Lager.
- American Amber Ale….try Long Trail Ale or rapidly growing in popularity, Adirondack Bear Naked Ale.
- Chili: Perfect for warming up fans during the big game. Chili tends to be a football recipe staple and for good reason – it’s quick to make, a safe bet when you’re having a crowd over and you can drink great beer right alongside. Because Chili offers such an array of flavors (beef, chicken/turkey or pork, beans, and spices), almost any beer will pair well with it.
- For Stout, try a local favorite such as Brown’s Oatmeal Stout.
- For an Abbey Ale it’s a no-brainer. Check out an Ommegang Abbey Ale brewed in nearby Cooperstown, NY
