From the Founder: The Perfect Pairing to your Holiday Main Course

I love beer. I love making it, I love tasting it. My friends asked me yesterday if my preferred drink was beer, and the answer is yes, it is.

So today, I would like to talk about beer, and the beers that you can pair with your food this Holiday season to turn it up a notch. I’m using Greenwood beers – and the ones that you can buy right from us in our taproom, or they are accessible here: Beer Finder!

• Want to get to the meat of this message? Here’s your TL;DR:
  • Steak = Rosemary IPA
  • Seafood = Emera Light Hazy IPA
  • Chicken = Purpose Pilsner
  • Veggies = Herstory Pale Ale

First up: Steak. I eat steak during the holidays, and my preferred beer with steak is our Greenwood Rosemary IPA. It’s a go-to suggestion that big, bold flavors in beer pair well with big, bold flavors in food. Our Rosemary IPA is a big and bold IPA at 7.2% ABV and is dry-hopped with fresh Arizona rosemary. Greenwood’s Rosemary IPA will pair perfectly with any cut of steak on the grill or even a cast-iron on your stovetop. To make it even more extra – toss in some fresh rosemary to crisp up and eat like candy alongside your juicy steak.

Second option that my family likes to eat while we’re all together is seafood. Greenwood’s Emera Light Hazy IPA pairs delicately with seafood like, tuna, salmon, shrimp or branzino. The light and lemony-ness of the Emera pairs perfectly with the light and lemony-ness of fresh seafood. Not all juicy hazy IPAs will pair well with seafood though, so if you don’t have access to Emera, then I would opt for another beer that you know has lemon notes, OR a crisp lager – our Purpose Pilsner would be a top second choice.

A go-to food option for the season is chicken. My pairing with chicken is the Greenwood Purpose Pilsner. It is a crisp, light, and bubbly style of beer with a slight bready flavor that pairs very well with a nice piece of chicken – fried with skin, or even an oven roasted chicken breast. Pilsner is a go-to style of beer that fits any occasion, and chicken offers that same well-rounded food option. A top second choice here for me if you’re looking for something with a little more flavor would be the Herstory Pale Ale.

Lastly, if you are more of a herbivore type (I like your style), and are eating more veggies in your diet, the Herstory Pale Ale is medium-bodied beer and will pair well with your favorite veg of choice. Brewed with classic hops and two row barley, this classic Herstory Pale Ale is a balanced beer can match the herbs from hearty veggies like potatoes and asparagus and gives the bread-y flavor that pairs well with broccoli and brussel sprouts. 

There you have it, my top flavors of food with my top flavors of beer. But no matter what beer you’re drinking this holiday season, make sure that it’s cold, fresh and delicious.

Happy Holidays to all of you! And cheers to that perfect ice-cold beer waiting for you.

Megan Greenwood & the Greenwood Brewing Team