10 Beer Snacks and What to Drink Them With

From easy-going pilsners to funky sours, there’s a brew to match every beer snack. In the same way as we do with wine, we can also match different beers with foods, as long as we keep a few principles in mind.

Key Beer Pairing Principles

• Contrast: Eating something boldly flavoured? Pair it with a beer that has a contrastingly strong flavour, such as a rich, creamy stout with briny oysters.
• Like with like: Another good rule of thumb is to pair like with like – so drink light beers with delicate vegetable or salad dishes, or try something like a porter with grilled meats.
• Palate cleansers: Alternatively, beers can work well as palate cleansers, so if you’re eating something spicy or deep-fried, then a crisp, clean lager or pilsner will act as a refreshing foil.
• Avoid overwhelming: Lastly, make sure your beer doesn’t overwhelm what you’re eating – for example, pairing a powerful, chocolatey stout with white fish.

Best Beer and Snack Pairings

When it comes to beer snacks, it pays to think outside the box and olive has plenty of ideas. From vegan pakoras to Italian arancini, here are some of our favourites, and the best beers to pair them with.

Crab arancini – pilsner

Deep-fried balls of creamy crab risotto – what’s not to love? Crisp, bubbly pilsners are a great match for fried snacks, and the clean flavours of the beer won’t overwhelm the delicate white crab meat in this recipe.

Chicken wings fried in instant mash – gueze

Fried chicken is an essential beer snack, right? Contrast the crunchy, fried coating of these succulent chicken wings with the funky-fruity acidity of a traditional Belgian lambic beer such as a gueze.

Purple sprouting broccoli with ponzu dipping sauce – lager

This speedy recipe (ready in less than 30 minutes) matches crispy tempura batter with a citrussy dipping sauce and makes for a choice vegan beer snack. We don’t want anything too assertive that will bully the delicate flavours in this dish, so opt for an easy-drinking lager.

Spiced cod fritters with harissa honey dip – English pale ale

Crisp enough to cut through the richness of fried foods makes a pale ale a great choice for these punchy fritters. The gentle hoppiness of an English pale ale will balance spicing in this dish but should still be mild enough in flavour so as not to overwhelm the fish.

Bresaola – bock beer

Making your own charcuterie is the ultimate weekend project and, once you’re done, you’ll need the perfect beer to sip with it. The fruitiness of a full-bodied lager like bock is a great match for the subtle spiciness of bresaola.

Carrot, halloumi and dill balls – Belgian tripel

Here, offset the salty halloumi cheese in this snack with the complex notes of a Belgian tripel.