At Spice Trade, we totally love beer. We also totally love food! Pairing the two together just makes sense. Being a brewpub a lot of our brewing style is inspired by ingredients and flavors used in the kitchen. Since all our beer is served only in our restaurant we’re always thinking about how different flavors in our beer will go with different dishes. If you’re interested in getting the best beer and food experience join us for one of our “Thali Beer Dinners”. These are 5 course dinners of Nepalese style small plates where each course is paired with a different beer that either compliments the dish or vice versa. If you’re big into beer and food pairings or just getting started you’ll have a blast. Keep an eye on our Facebook for the next beer dinner which should be coming up soon!

On the first Friday of every month we’ll be highlighting one of our beers and an interesting food pairing. They may be dishes at the restaurant, they may not be. We’ll give you a little info on the pairing, why the flavors work together, and then give you a recipe so you can grab a growler at the taproom and try this pairing at home!

A Little Background on Pairings

For a long time when you talked about food pairings, most people were referring to wine. But in the past few years’ beer has really worked its way into food pairings, and rightfully so. Beer is a super versatile drink with all sorts of flavor profiles, ingredients, and other characteristics that make it a great choice for enjoying with your favorite dish. When it comes to how to pair beer and food there are a few guidelines to follow. It’s important to keep in mind that pairings of any sort are subjective and the only way to know if something works is to give it a try. The ultimate goal is to match the beer and a dish together that enhances the overall flavor experience. Here are the two main principles to follow:

• Match intensity: You don’t want to overshadow the beer or the food.
  • Probably not a great idea to pair a Russian Imperial Stout with a lemon vinaigrette salad but it would go well with a spicy pepper jack cheese
• Cut, Compliment, or Contrast: The three main options for matching food and beer
  • Cut: cleansing the palate from rich flavors to prepare for the next bite (Rich, fatty, or sweet dishes can be cut with beer bitterness, carbonation, or acidity)
  • Compliment: Flavor hooks between the beer and food (sweet with sweet or bitter with bitter)
  • Contrast: Flavors that offset to accentuate each other (tart with salty, mussels with Guze)

Pairing of the Month: Tropical Flavors

This month, as an escape from the cold winter weather, we’re doing a tropical fruit forward pairing of our Sun Temple IPA paired with mango salsa and guacamole!

Why this works:

Sun Temple IPA is a NE style IPA which means its big on hop flavor without the bitterness of a traditional IPA. It’s easy drinking with big notes of mango, candy (think Jolly Rancher), and citrus fruits with a medium bitterness and a dry finish. It clocks in at 6.5% ABV and 60 IBUs which is a middle of the road level of intensity on the alcohol and bitterness front. The first part of this pairing is complimentary, matching the big tropical fruit and citrus flavors in the beer with the brightness of mangos and lime juice. The high levels of sweetness in the mango salsa helps balance out the dryness of the beer while the minerality of the beer and carbonation (acidity) help cut through the rich, fatty characteristics of the guacamole.

The Recipe:

Mango Salsa

• 3 Ripe Mangos – Cubed
• 1/2 Red Pepper – Diced
• 1/2 Red Onion – Diced
• 2 Cloves Garlic – Minced
• 1 Lime – Juiced
• 1/2 Jalapeno – Seeded & Minced
• Handful of Cilantro – Chopped
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Chop up those ingredients and mix together in a big bowl. Salt and pepper to taste.

Guacamole

• 4 Avocados
• 1/2 Red Onion – Diced
• 3 Roma Tomatoes – Diced
• 2 Cloves Garlic – Minced
• 1 Lime – Juiced
• 1/2 Jalapeno – Seeded & Minced
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Cilantro Garnish – Optional

Chop up those ingredients, mix and mash together in a big bowl. Salt and pepper to taste.

Grab yourself some chips, friends, and throw on some salsa music. Pour a few glasses of Sun Temple and enjoy!