Craft beers are often brewed by smaller breweries and offer a ‘hand-crafted” style of beer, using unique malts, hops or yeast, and create complex and distinctive beers with more defined flavors such as fruit or honey. These beers can range in alcohol content between 5 and 9%. The diverse number of craft beers complement a greater number of meals, from honey beers with chicken or ham, fruit beers with dessert, or strong beers as an after dinner drink on their own.
Stouts have a rich, malty flavor with notes of caramel, coffee and chocolate, ranging from sweet to bitter. There are numerous types of stout ranging from Irish Stout; with Guinness being the most popular brand; to Porter. Its strong, dark flavor offer a unique alternative to hearty stews, or wild game.
Lagers are traditionally a bottom fermented beer where the yeast settles at the bottom of the tanks, producing a clear, crisp beer. Most lagers are of the “pils” type – a brewing style that originated in the Czech Republic in the 1800s. Lagers are typically lightly colored and less aromatic than ales, best consumed at cooler temperatures than ales. Lagers match well with white meat such as chicken, turkey, game and mild-flavored seafoods such as mussels, scallops and halibut.
Ales were some of the first beers brewed and use top fermenting yeast which rise to the top of the brewing tank, to be skimmed off when fermentation is complete. Ales generally have a more robust taste and aroma than lagers and come in many varieties including Bitters, Milds, Pale Ales, Amber Ale, Nut Brown, etc. The robustness of ales match well with fuller-bodied meals such as steak, pork and lamb.
