The expert’s guide to beer and barbecue pairings

Pairing beer and barbecue is a time-honored tradition – one that Heaven & Ale Brewing Co. and Chatter Box are taking up a notch with their recent partnership. Here, Heaven & Ale owner Joe Winland and Chatter Box’s Brandon Ellis chat about the classic pairing and offer up a few recommendations.

Winland: There are things throughout history that are just not to be trifled with, and I think beer and barbecue is one of those things.

Ellis: They’re both enjoyed in social atmospheres. If you appreciate both of them as an art, you like to get a hold of something that’s made by somebody who really has a passion for what they’re doing. It’s a craft kind of thing. People really enjoy patronizing businesses that have mastered their craft: craft barbecue, craft beer.

Winland: We’re trying to take this traditional thing and improve upon it, and make the two go together not just in the traditional sense, but go together from a flavor perspective. They’re both comfort consumables, too; there’s something very comforting about a plate of barbecue and there’s something comforting and familiar about a good beer. So why not give people both of those things?

Pairing suggestions

Heaven & Ale’s food menu features spicy, sweet and savory options from Chatter Box.

” … Trying to put the right beer with those right flavors is kind of important to what we do at Heaven & Ale, to try to take beer and legitimize it in a way,” Joe Winland says. “More than just a recreational beverage, it can be sophisticated and it can go with food and it can be strategized in that way.”

Winland describes Chatter Box’s Korean barbecue taco topped with kimchi as “a little on the spicy side with a bit of a vinegary, earthy funk.” He recommends a hoppy, bitter beer, such as Heaven & Ale’s See Hop City or Cloudfall, to combat the spiciness and complement the funkiness of the kimchi. “It’s just a really nice match,” he says.

With something super-flavorful like wings, Winland suggests a light American lager. “There’s so much going on that we don’t really want to interfere with the flavor too much. You want something that’s going to provide a little bit of balance, that’s going to be more of a complement to the food than an enhancement.”

Since the barbecue sauce on Ellis’ pulled pork sliders is a little on the sweeter side, he recommends pairing them with something more savory like a kettle sour – something with a little bit of tartness and acidity to balance out the sweet richness of the slider’s sauce.

“I like a lot of sours,” Ellis chimes in. “That’s not a traditional pairing; I’m not speaking for anybody but myself.”

He also likes pairing sour beers with his Korean barbecue taco. ” … It’s kind of got a savory, funky taste to it, and a lot of sours kind of have that funkiness to them. … You get that fresh, tender brisket mixed in with the Korean barbecue sauce; you get that chopped kimchi, a toasted street taco, and then finished off with a Korean cream sauce.”

“Beer’s not just for washing barbecue down anymore,” adds Winland. “It’s for creating a whole new experience.”