It’s beginning to taste a lot like Christmas in Nelson, and Christmas Day is a day for Crafty Christmas Brews… Plus all the other days as well! So what’s the key to pairing your festive fizz with food?
There’s only one rule when it comes to a beer and food match, and that is that there are no rules. Anything goes, as long as you like the beer and you like the food. However, some flavours can be enhanced when combining different beer styles with food.
Get your guests warmed up and let the good times flow with these suggested combos.
Unwrap the day with a champagne breakfast, and the champagne of beers has to be La Chouffe. It’s fruity, coriander-spiced and has a champagne effervescence that lends a spritzy touch to smashed avo on toast, and all bacon and egg combos. Crafty Christmas brews aren’t just for breakfast… Seafood barby for lunch? Present yourself with a Deep Creek Undercurrent Pilsner. It’s crisp, clean and zesty, with a hint of white wine, and a finish drier than your grandmother’s kiss. At 4.5% it’s not strong enough to overpower any delicate fish flavours.
The main event… Baked ham or roast turkey? Go for Garage Project’s Red Rocks Reserve. This beer is good enough before, during or after. It smells like baked ham and pineapple, and tastes like sweet bacon. The hoppy profile cuts the meat fats, and the caramelised malts accentuate the roasty, meaty, flavours.
Desserts: Funk Estate Soul Train Peach Tea with your pav. Behemoth Triple Chocolate Stout poured over ice cream. Or Kriek Boon with its cherry tones served with your trifle. To accompany Christmas cake or tarts try Chimay Blue. With notes of stewed plums, raisins and cloves, combined with rich, warming, caramel malt, this brew tastes like liquid Christmas cake.
For an under the tree beer for Santa choose Mutiny on the Bounty from Garage Project. This bottled merriment is very extravagant; but hey, Christmas comes only once a year and a good brew will allow you to chill if the rellies get your tinsel in a tangle.
Grab your crafty Christmas brews and fab festive food from Fresh Choice, Nelson.
Wishing you a beery Christmas and hoppy new year!
Thanks to our Guest Blogger and beer aficionado… Denis “the man” Cooper!
