Abeervinum is your trusted online shop when it comes to craft beers and helpful tips to be able to enjoy them in the best way and never be disappointed. Choosing a beer is not easy, especially if you need to accompany it to a dinner or an aperitif, pairing it with various types of food.
If reading is not your thing, we can recommend you right away a blonde and unscented beer, which can be perfectly paired to everything; however, if you want to explore the fabulous world of beers and breweries, here is for you a complete guide on how to find the perfect harmony between food and beer.
As a first step is important to be able to recognize tastes from both fronts and also the characteristics, such as alcohol content, carbonation, aroma, persistence and much more. It is important to know that for a perfect pairing, all these characteristics must create the right harmony, trying not to clash with one another.
The flavor of a beer is given by the ingredients with which it’s produced, therefore by malt, hops and yeast.
- Malt: this ingredient is not just able to give color to the beer. Malt, once it has been dried and/or roasted, apart from altering the color of the beer, can also give different aromas like caramelly and biscuity if we talk about the dark-colored beers or vanilla and honey aroma for lighter colored beers. For caramelly flavored beers, the ideal food definitely includes white meat, not too strong-flavored types of cheese, vegetables and onions. For blonde beers, fresh cheese and raw fish; for dark beers, grilled meat and smoked food. For styles of beer such as Blanche and Witbier, where the wheat is not malted, summery and light dishes are perfect.
- Hops: the origin is very relevant; the European ones have a herbaceous and floral scent, and they go well with dishes that include aromatic herbs and herbaceous types of cheese. The English hops have an earthy and peppery aroma and are perfect with dishes that include mushrooms, truffle and berries. Moving across the ocean, hops take on very fruity aromas; we can indeed find citrus and tropical hops. The American, Australian and New Zealand hops are perfect for orange, lemon, lime and other citrus fruit based dishes.
- Fermentation:
Low Fermentation: 90% of beers are produced with this method. Here we find those beers where the taste of malt and hops is predominant. Examples: Pils and Lager.
High Fermentation: With this method are produced more intense beers with a strong and significant taste. Examples: Stout and Pale Ale.
Spontaneous Fermentation. Examples: Lambic.
Now it’s your turn, find out in our online shop of craft beers what’s the beer that suits you. And remember, try to always find the right balance between beer and food.
