“Pairing craft beer with food is an art and a science but anyone can succeed with a little culinary flair. Here’s how to elevate your own food and beer experience to impress your family and friends:

• Match strength with strength. Pair delicate dishes with lighter craft beers and strongly flavoured dishes with intense, more assertive beer styles.

• Use the dominant flavour or ingredient in a dish as the starting point. Hops are very food-friendly and go with just about any food.

• Supporting ingredients – herbs, spices, fat and sugar - impact on the interaction of beer with food.

• Consider what cooking methods and techniques to use because this affects the end result. Grilling, roasting, smoking and baking when done at high temperatures will accentuate the beer’s malt flavours, while braising or frying adds fat that will coat the palate and protect against the ‘bite’ of the alcohol.

• Hops can mimic the flavours of herbs and spices. Herbal, spicy, pine, citrus, tropical, fruity or woody hop flavour notes will compliment similar ingredients used in the dish.

• Yeast can also compliment a wide range of supporting ingredients and flavours.

There are three main interactions with beer and food pairings – complementing, contrasting and cutting. For a dish to be complementary look for harmonious flavours between the ingredients and the craft beer eg. roast duck breast with a brown ale or Dubbel or the light acidity of a witbier with a salad and vinaigrette dressing.

Contrasting is the most challenging interaction on the palate and works best when the dominant flavour of the dish contrasts against the main flavour profile of the beer eg. sweet v sour or bitter v sweet. A classic example is the tropical flavour notes of an American IPA with an intensely, hot pepper, spiced dish or curry.

Craft beer cuts through the fat of rich, succulent and creamy foods to cleanse the palate after every

mouthful and leave it feeling refreshed, clean and ready for the next bite. The bitter strength and astringency of hops lifts fat from the palate and a sweet finish cuts away acidic flavours, leaving a pleasant sensation in the mouth. Sour and tart flavours can cut away sugary and fruity notes and the scrubbing effect of carbonation diffuses the richness of the food.

Pairing suggestions:

Crisp & Clean Beers – these beers are refreshing, delicate and slightly dry and work well with lighter flavours. Pair with grain-based dishes, creamy risotto, salads, vegetables.Beer styles: Blonde Ale, Pilsner, Helles, Kölsch

Hoppy & Bitter – great with foods that need a bit of competition on the palate, think spicy, fatty or acidic. The bitterness of hops lifts fat from the tongue leaving you ready for the next bite. Hops can be intensely flavoursome with notes of citrus, resin, tropical fruit, pine, herbal or floral. Beer styles: Amber Ale, Barley Wine, IPA, Imperial IPA, Pale AleTry with: spicy foods, curry, pizza, cheese, carrot cake

Malty & Sweet – offer a degree of sweetness and notes of nuts, toffee, caramel and dried fruit from roasted malts. These beers complement food that is roasted, crispy or browned.Beer styles: Amber lager, Brown Ale, Belgian-style Dubbel, Dunkel, Scotch AleGoes with: roast chicken, pork, duck, sausages, cheese

Rich & Roasty – intensely deep, dark, rich flavours; barrel-aged bourbon, vanilla, chocolate, coffee and sometimes a smoky aroma, they work with dishes that have roasted fat such as red meats, nuts or chocolate. They’re great with anything charred, barbecued or grilled or with a clean, briny finish such as oysters.Beer styles: Brown Ale, Stout, Porter, SchwarzbierPair with: ribs, burgers, meat casseroles, barbecue, spicy foods, oysters, chocolate

Fruity & Spicy – flavours are mainly driven by yeast and can include notes of stone fruits, citrus, ginger, salt, banana or clove. Spicy aromatic foods that go well with rosé or red wine would be good accompaniments here.Beer styles: Belgian Blonde Ale, Witbier, Hefeweizen, Saison, Tripel, QuadrupelWorks with: shellfish, seafood, fish and chips, sushi

Sour, Tart & Funky – often barrel-aged and may have fruit or natural sugars added. Farmhouse, leather, hay, grass and even wet socks may not sound appealing but if you like acidic, biodynamic wines you’ll love these!Beer styles: Brett, Sour, Flanders Ale, Gose, Geuze, LambicFood suggestions: creamy desserts, cheesecake, crème brulee, Black Forest gateau

Further details and recipes are available on the Beer and Food Course, downloadable for free at www.CraftBeer.com or the Brewers Association’s American Craft Beer and Food: Perfect Companions – a handy 12 page booklet detailing the basics of beer and food pairings from www.Brewersassociation.org

The growth of craft beer is a global phenomenon fuelled by the huge rise in interest for American craft beer styles and the myriad of flavours in beer make it the natural partner for a wide spectrum of foods. Adam Dulye, Brewers Association Executive Chef, a leading global expert on beer and food pairing, explains what it’s all about.

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