Three Beer & Pub Grub Pairings to Rule Them All!

There’s nothing quite like beer and pub grub. But did you know that pairing your beer with fried and battered foods is the height of sophistication? We’ve selected beers uniquely available from The Bottle Store in Al Ghadeer to showcase how to elevate even your most casual meals out with the perfect beer pairings.

Lager and Jalapeño Poppers

Lager is the most popular style of beer. It is so popular that many people think it’s the only style of beer. It is light, refreshing, thirst-quenching, and best served super cold. As self-proclaimed beer connoisseurs, we don’t want to reach for the most common one around, so we chose El Jefe—a Mexican-style lager made by UAE home-grown brand Side Hustle (the brand behind the first brewery in the UAE). The use of the El Dorado hop lends an aromatic pineapple lift that complements the Latino theme of the beer. A great pub grub pairing here is jalapeño poppers. We can even call this a regional and Mexican-style beer, and jalapeño peppers have a natural synergy. Beyond that, the coldness and freshness of the beer combat the chilli burn while the carbonation washes away the extra weight of the fried batter and melted cheese.

Blue Moon Belgian Style Wheat Beer with Fish & Chips

All great beer nations have a wheat beer, also known as white beer, Weisbier, Weizen, Witbier, or Bière Blanche. These beers are usually unfiltered, giving them a cloudy appearance, and the wheat makes them naturally light and clovey in character. In Belgium, it is traditional to boost those aromatics by adding citrus and herbs. Blue Moon has doubled down on Valencia orange peel and coriander, adding freshness that pairs perfectly with seafood and minted mushy peas. Bring on the fish & chips!

Craft Nation, Hop on The Band Wagon, Imperial IPA

Beers are flavored with hops, cone-shaped flowers that contain highly aromatic resin, which helps preserve beer naturally. The IPA style is known to be quite flavorful and bitter because of the abundance of hops used in its production. Imperial IPAs have even more hops. With a full-flavoured beer like this, you can pair it with food, the punchiest dishes on the menu. Enter buffalo hot wings. Buffalo sauce isn’t sweet; it harnesses the herbal flavours of peppers. Highly hopped beers, like this zesty and slightly floral Imperial IPA, bring a load of herbal characters from the hops, creating a natural affinity with the buffalo sauce. Plus, it’s thirst-quenching, and the bitterness and carbonation are very palate-cleansing.

Want more pub grub and beer pairings? Let us know! We’re always happy to explore more of the extensive beers from The Bottle Store in Al Ghadeer in the name of research!