[Bel Air Brewing]

Something else that pairs nicely with beers...cheese! Almost any quality cheese, but especially a Dutch Gouda, or different cheddar cheeses from The Netherlands.

When having guests over for a gathering, we always set out several large blocks of cheese, and allow everyone to slice up various samples to go with the beers on tap.

[jeffy]

Something else that pairs nicely with beers...cheese! Almost any quality cheese, but especially a Dutch Gouda, or different cheddar cheeses from The Netherlands.

When having guests over for a gathering, we always set out several large blocks of cheese, and allow everyone to slice up various samples to go with the beers on tap.

The wine people tend to be wrong in their assessment that cheese works best with wine.  Beer's carbonation helps rinse the mouth and accentuate the cheese flavors.

[Village Taphouse]

The comments was made that "nothing sweet" and while I agree with that in principle I have to admit that I was once charged to come up with a beer pairing with Girl Scout Cookies at my brewery years ago.I detested the idea at first but after a while I actually found that there were some surprising pairings that brought out or highlighted some of the flavors in the beer--or the cookies.

I'm a strict milk and cookies guy (or maybe coffee or tea depending) so don't get me wrong. I'm going in for a pretzel over a cookie with my next pint without a doubt. However, it was eye opening.

I'm sure this is true and I like to stay open-minded on things like this.  But in an everyday situation it's going to be a salty snack that goes with beer.

The cheese thing is true too.  Generally I'm NOT reaching for cheese but if it was a party and the host had a table full of crackers, cheeses, etc., I wouldn't hesitate to grab some cheese and wash it down with beer.  It's salty after all.  I've been out to dinner and had beer and then someone at the table orders a large dessert and I end up with a fork full of tiramisu or cannoli or something... that last gulp of beer is pretty much ruined, IMO. 

[pete b]

I am in the salty snack, not sweet, not with a big meal camp. I have never gone to those multi course beer pairings just because I feel beer is too filling to go with most meals.
That being said there are some exceptions. I almost always get a Taj Mahal or Kingfisher at an Indian restaurant and generally think beer goes better with spicy food than wine. Often a lager is the best choice. I certainly sometimes have pizza with beer but it's just that I like to drink some beers while tending the pizza oven. If the pairing mattered to me it would be red wine with pizza.
We make a great nut mix with our own hot sauce and bitters that goes great with beer. It's not at all sweet but has just a bit of honey or maple syrup and butter wuth the spices and tossed with the freshly roasted nuts. That combo makes everything stick to the nuts.
Another thing I like in the late afternoon with a beer this time of year is radishes with butter and a sprinkle of maldon sea salt. It's delicious and light. I especially like the elongated french radishes for this treatment.
Hard cheese with a lot of crystallization with some crusty bread and mustard work too.

[jeffy]

I am in the salty snack, not sweet, not with a big meal camp. I have never gone to those multi course beer pairings just because I feel beer is too filling to go with most meals.
That being said there are some exceptions. I almost always get a Taj Mahal or Kingfisher at an Indian restaurant and generally think beer goes better with spicy food than wine. Often a lager is the best choice. I certainly sometimes have pizza with beer but it's just that I like to drink some beers while tending the pizza oven. If the pairing mattered to me it would be red wine with pizza.
We make a great nut mix with our own hot sauce and bitters that goes great with beer. It's not at all sweet but has just a bit of honey or maple syrup and butter wuth the spices and tossed with the freshly roasted nuts. That combo makes everything stick to the nuts.
Another thing I like in the late afternoon with a beer this time of year is radishes with butter and a sprinkle of maldon sea salt. It's delicious and light. I especially like the elongated french radishes for this treatment.
Hard cheese with a lot of crystallization with some crusty bread and mustard work too.

An even better choice with Indian food is a Scottish 80, like McEwans; the malt really works well to cut the heat.

[pete b]

I am in the salty snack, not sweet, not with a big meal camp. I have never gone to those multi course beer pairings just because I feel beer is too filling to go with most meals.
That being said there are some exceptions. I almost always get a Taj Mahal or Kingfisher at an Indian restaurant and generally think beer goes better with spicy food than wine. Often a lager is the best choice. I certainly sometimes have pizza with beer but it's just that I like to drink some beers while tending the pizza oven. If the pairing mattered to me it would be red wine with pizza.
We make a great nut mix with our own hot sauce and bitters that goes great with beer. It's not at all sweet but has just a bit of honey or maple syrup and butter wuth the spices and tossed with the freshly roasted nuts. That combo makes everything stick to the nuts.
Another thing I like in the late afternoon with a beer this time of year is radishes with butter and a sprinkle of maldon sea salt. It's delicious and light. I especially like the elongated french radishes for this treatment.
Hard cheese with a lot of crystallization with some crusty bread and mustard work too.

An even better choice with Indian food is a Scottish 80, like McEwans; the malt really works well to cut the heat.

I can see that but I have a thing about not enjoying being full so a lighter beer works for me. Also, it's not about cutting the heat, I just think some beers like lagers, pale ales, and lighter IPAs play well with heat.

[erockrph]

I think the reason sweet doesn't work with most beer is that the beers are intended to be dry and any residual sweetness on the palate is generally unwelcome. For me, the exception here is estery/phenolic beer like Belgians and hefeweizens. Even though the beers are typically dry, the fruit and spice compliments desserts pretty well. Apple spice cake or gingersnaps paired with a dubbel or dunkelweizen is pretty damn good. I'd imagine dried fruit would match up pretty well, also. Sweet isn't horrible with English ales to me, but I'd still prefer a salty snack with them.

Otherwise, the tried and true work well. Pretzels, nuts, cheese, bread and meats all go well with most lagers and ales. I particularly prefer cheese with bitters and milds. I think the lower carbonation is creamier and less prickly, which works well with the cheeses I like. Chocolate, particularly dark chocolate, plays nice with porters, stouts, and brown ales.

[Skeeter686]

I like to keep Beer Nuts hot bar mix on hand:  https://beernuts.com/collections/hot-bar-mix

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[Village Taphouse]

I stopped at my local Korean grocery store on Friday and found these...



They're slightly weird and not exactly my favorite but they're quite good.  Strangely, each piece *DOES* have a slightly sweet thing going on but they're saltier than they are sweet and the level of sweetness is nowhere near that of these candies peanuts I mentioned. 

[Bel Air Brewing]

I stopped at my local Korean grocery store on Friday and found these...



They're slightly weird and not exactly my favorite but they're quite good.  Strangely, each piece *DOES* have a slightly sweet thing going on but they're saltier than they are sweet and the level of sweetness is nowhere near that of these candies peanuts I mentioned.

I have seen these before, either in Japan, or perhaps in a local Asian market here. They are quite good, and go well with almost any beer.