One thing we love talking about at Siren is the perfect symbiosis of beer and food. We take beer seriously, obsessing over things such as perfect glassware, atmosphere and even the adjoining can art to make the beer a true experience. As the bank holiday weekend is ahead of us and we’re all hoping for a sunny one, we thought we’d delve into one of our favourite beer pairings, Barbecue.
Nothing beats sitting around in the sun with friends and/or family, cooking outside and enjoying a cold beer. The variety that BBQ offers is amazing, and the chance to create some incredible beer pairings is exciting.
So let’s firstly look at the role that food plays. The way a beer tastes to us can be affected by our environments, our genetics and certainly, what we’ve had, or are having to eat. Sometimes, a good beer pairing is just because it’s a nice experience – you can’t beat a cold can of Lumina Session IPA with a BBQ, for example, simply because it’s delicious!
But we want to go a bit deeper, find those pairings that work scientifically. We use certain hops and malts to target certain flavours and profiles in a beer. These are always a part of the main flavour, but go towards the overall end product. Think, if you will, of a chef using celery in a Ragu. Enjoying the final sauce, you’re not going to notice the celery, but as an aroma, it will help enhance flavours within the dish. Hops, malts and various adjuncts work similarly in beer.
When those beers are combined with certain foods, often things like sugars or bitterness can be enhanced.
Melissa Cole, award-winning author and beer writer, recently gave us a suggestion for Calypso Sour Beer and Chilli Marinated Prawns, which we think sounds amazing and is a lovely twist on beer and BBQ.
Our Events Manager, Matt, is an avid BBQ chef and has recently been making ‘beer can chicken’ using Soundwave IPA, another weird and wonderful use for beer!
As far as pairing goes, we don’t think you can look past pale ales and IPAs as a pairing with BBQ food. The smokiness balances with the fruity hops, whilst the salty food helps to bring out additional more complex notes in the beer. Stouts help to bring out umami and earthy notes, combining well with rich meats and smoke. We currently have Hard Pour Broken Dream, a super smooth Nitro version of our flagship stout and Origin Story, an imperial stout available.
Sour beers also work really well. If you’re not marinating your prawns in it, then the sharpness of a Calypso also works perfectly with salty meats. However, it’s also a perfect match for cheeses, so get some halloumi on the grill!
For more on BBQ and Beer pairing, check out the full blog, with more ideas and recipes at sirencraftbrew.com/bbq
In the meantime, head to the Siren Tap Yard to pick up your beers for the bank holiday weekend. There’s a full selection of cans available to purchase on-site and growlers will be back in stock for keg beer at home!
