Beer and Candy Pairing
We are in the spooky season and very close to Halloween. So I thought I'd do something fun for the blog and take you through some beer and candy pairing. Or some beer and sweets pairings here in the UK. I've chosen a selection of sweets that I really enjoy, and I'll pair them with some different beers for you today. This would be really good for a Halloween party, it'd be really good for any sort of holiday event you might have coming up. Or you could just have some fun with some friends and neighbours. As with all beer and food pairings, you need to think about how you're going to match up your food with your beer. Are the flavours going to match? Are they going to be harmonious together? Or are they going to be different so you get some sort of new, innovative flavour? Consider this when picking your beers and candies. I suggest getting a selection of your favourite candies, and a selection of your favourite beers and trying them together. See what works for you because remember, everybody's palate is different.
Beer and Candy Pairing 1: Kit Kat & Dark Lager
Thursday Dark Lager by And Union with KitKat
First up, I have chosen dark lager and KitKat. The dark lager is roasty with tobacco notes. The sweetness of the KitKat takes the bitterness away from the dark malt of this beer but enhances that lovely roastiness. The carbonation of the dark lager scrubs the palate, which takes away the richness of the KitKat and makes you want to try some more.
Beer and Candy Pairing 2: Snickers & Dunkel
Braybrooke Dunkel Lager & Snickers
Next, we have Snickers and Dunkel. I found that the Snickers highlights the nutty caramel notes of the Dunkel. The sweetness from the Snickers allows the cereal notes from the malts of the Dunkel grain bill to come through, which is very refreshing. The carbonation from this lager style scrubs the palate, just like the dark lager, which makes you want to try some more.
Beer and Candy Pairing 3: Percy Pigs & Rhubarb Hefeweizen or Weisse
Rolling On Rhubarb Hefeweizen by McColls x Campervan & Weisse by Cloudwater with M&S Percy Pigs
I wanted to try Percy Pigs with two different beers. I have a rhubarb hefeweizen and a weisse beer. I felt that the fruit flavours from the Percy Pigs would go very well with a wheat base, and the rhubarb might bring out some interesting combinations with the fruit flavours. If you're not in the UK and can't get Percy Pigs then any fruit flavoured gummy will probably work with this pairing. Percy pigs are made with apple, mandarin and elderberry juices. As I suspected pairing this with the rhubarb hefeweizen made a beautiful floral, perfumey and fruity base. I think this might be my favourite pairing!
I also tried it with the Weisse this brings out the weissbier’s aromatics, and it made for a very subtle but interesting pairing
Beer and Candy Pairing 4: Starbursts & IPA
Azacca Smash IPA & Starburst
Starburst and an IPA I thought would be a good combination of fruity flavours. Because of the tropical fruit flavours that come from the hops in an IPA. You might get a nice fruit salad type effect with the chewy Starburst. I didn't really enjoy the starburst with the IPA. I was hoping that it would knock back some of the bitterness. Some of the flavours did - I tried all of them. But really it took away the fruitiness of the IPA, though, the carbonation of the IPA did clean away the sweetness from the Starburst.
Beer and Candy Pairing 5: Fizzy sweets & Dry Hopped Lager
Dry-Hopped Lager by Calvors & M&S Phizzy Pigtails
Fizzy and sour sweets aren't my favourites, but I thought they would go quite well with a dry-hopped lager. The fizzy sweets did work really well with dry-hopped lager, there was a cleanness from the lager that helped with the acidity of the sour sweets. And it brought out the fruitiness of both the sweet and the dry hop. I tried the sour sweets with the weissbier as well. This was okay - it brought out the clove notes.
Beer and Candy Pairing 6: Dairy Milk Chocolate & Milk Stout
Imp My Ride by Brew York & Dairy Milk
My final pairing was a classic and very matching in its flavours. I did a milk stout with milk chocolate. Pairing milk chocolate with a milk stout might seem like the obvious choice. However, I found that this pairing really helped to bring out the rich coffee notes of the milk stout. It also almost gave a bit of a biscuit background from the malts. It was a really lovely balance.
While we are on the subject of chocolate - I find that fruit creams from selection boxes go really well with the stout because you get the fruit flavours with the chocolatey notes of the stout. Dark chocolate also goes really well with a fruit beer such as a framboise or a Kriek.
My absolute favourite sweet pairing out of all of these was the fruit-based Percy Pigs with the rhubarb, hefeweizen. I think the matching of the fruit flavours really brought out a floral, perfumey, complex flavour. My least favourite of all of the pairings was the Starburst with the IPA. I also didn't think that the Starburst would go very well with any of the other beers. They've got a real waxy character that I didn't think paired well with beer at all. But feel free to try your own styles with it and let me know what works for you.
I hope you've enjoyed this journey into beer and candy pairings. Let me know in the comments, what pairings you've tried and that you enjoyed. And if you'd like to see more food and beer pairings, why not join our mailing list for our latest educational content here.
