Warm summer days are perfect for sipping a cold beer and snacking. There’s an art to pairing the
perfect snack with the best beer, however. So, before we get to the snacks, let’s review some beer basics.
All beer falls into two styles: ales and lagers. In lagers, yeast gathers at the bottom of the tank during fermentation resulting in crisp, clean, and refreshing flavors. With ales, the yeast gathers toward the top making these beers aromatic and often fruity.
There are several factors to keep in mind when pairing snacks and beer. First, you can pair a beer that has a commanding flavor profile with a mild flavored snack, or vice versa. Contrasting flavors is one of the easiest ways to pair bitter, tart, dark or otherwise bold beers, like pale ales or stouts, with food.
Another approach when pairing beer with food is to find harmony between the flavors. The easiest way
to do that is to find similar ingredients or you can match strength for strength. For example, pairing a
bold beer, like a stout, with an equally bold food such as a plate of BBQ ribs, or Southern Recipe
Small Batch pork rinds, is an example of matching strength for strength. In that same vein, you could
pair a mild beer with mild food, like fish or salad. Lifehacker.com has a helpful chart outlining different
categories of food and which beer pairs best with each one.
Southern Recipe Small Batch is a perfect low carb, high protein snack pairing for beer fans. Small
Batch pork rinds come in bold flavors that pair well with different brews. Read on to learn which beer
best complements your favorite Southern Recipe Small Batch pork rind flavor.
Pineapple & Ancho Chile pairs best with wheat ales, white ales, Belgian ales and German ales.
Sea Salt & Cracked Black Pepper is best with amber and red ales and porters.
Spicy Dill goes well with light beers like blonde and amber lagers and Bohemian-style Pilsners.
Pasilla Chili Cheese is best with honey beer, red ale and amber lager.
Your favorite Southern Recipe Small Batch pork rinds can also be added to recipes that pair well with beer
like their recipe for Low-Carb Beer Cheese Dip.
Southern Recipe Small Batch’s Low Carb Beer Cheese Dip
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. Butter
1 cup Low-carb beer
1/2 tsp. Paprika
1/8 tsp Cayenne
1/4 cup Heavy whipping cream
2 oz Cream cheese
2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded
Directions:
Combine the butter, beer, paprika and cayenne pepper in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.
Allow the mixture to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in cream cheese, heavy cream and shredded cheese. Stir until well combined.
Return to the stove over low heat and simmer for another 5 minutes stirring frequently.
Transfer to a serving dish and top with additional paprika if desired.
Serve with Southern Recipe Small Batch pork rinds of your choice.