Crisps and Beer Pairings

Brewers always lark on about what foods go best with their beers, whether a curry would be a suitable match for an IPA or a hearty stew provide the perfect accompaniment to a Best Bitter. Yet they seldom mention about crisps, which through thick and thin has been a constant companion to the humble pint, since the first flavoured crisps were introduced by Smiths back in the 1920's. Over the past 70 years as manufacturers developed new flavours for crisps, from cheese and onion in 1954 to salt and vinegar in 1967 and so on; the variety of crisps available to punters have vastly increased to hundreds of flavours and styles whether it is made out of potato, corn or wheat. So the idea about crisp and beer pairings should really be a particuarly pertient one at this moment in time as beers increasingly diversify. The old adage goes that crisps were intially introduced to pubs, since their fatiness and saltiness encourages drinkers to buy more pints, and in turn rake in more profits for the landlords, it is little wonder pubs like The Swan in Bushey has a mountain of snacks to choose from, as it has become a good source of encouraging profit. Yet it would be shallow just to dismiss crisps as a salty snack used to drive up drinking rates. There have been ongoing efforts from independent brewers to improve the quality of their beers, crisp manufacturers like Burts, Pipers and Mackies have striven over the years to improve the quality of their product, so aside from encouraging customers to drink more, their products also provide an ideal pairing to beers. But like cheese and wine pairings, different flavours suit different wines, the same should be said about crisps and beers. 

Indeed flavours like salt and vinegar particuarly go well with golden ales, as the acidity from the vinegar helps dovetail with the potent hopiness that is commonly found with this style. For instance I once tried a packet of salt and vinegar Squares with Bure Gold (4.3%) - Woodfordes and I found that the vinegar actually enhanced the flavour profile of the beer, and brought the hop forward flavours out. The same could be said for Smith's Scampi Fries, which I also find a good match with any blonde or Golden Ale; although in reality it's actually lemon flavoured, the flavour profile makes for a good pairing with this particular style of beer as it helps blend with the refreshing hoppy flavours from the beer rather than overtake it, which is little wonder why the British public voted it the 6th most popular crisp variety. Moreover, when it comes to the likes of Best Bitter which often known for its maltiness, dry mouthfeel and pronounced bitter backtaste, gamier/ meaty flavours should be considered. The smokiness from bacon flavoured crisps like Frazzles would make an ideal pairing for any pint of best, as the smokey tang helps undercut the bitter excesses from the beer, making it easier to drink. The same could be said for beef flavour crisps, when recently sampling some Pipers Longhorn Beef flavoured crisps with Orkney Best (3.6%) - Swannay, the gamey flavours from the crisps help exentuate the malty properties from the beer, thus improving its flavour, rather than detract from it. Now when it comes to darker beers like Stout, Porters and Dark Mild, careful consideration should be put into pairing crisps with this beer style, as quite often this style is known for its pronouced roasted malt flavour profile with notes of coffee, chocolate, caramel and even charcoal are often are detected. This can make it particuarly difficult to match up with any crisp flavour, especially when there are many substyles of stout for instance to choose from, such as Oyster, Milk, Dry Irish, Imperial, Oatmeal and Fruit to take in consideration, which further mudies the waters. Yet most stouts and porters are known for their medium to heavy bodies, especially when lactose and oats are thrown into the mix. Incidentally enough cheese has always been seen as a good flavour pairing with darker beers, as the creaminess from the cheese helps dovetail with the mouthfeel from the beer, and also help counteract the bitterness without overtaking it. Certain types of cheeses like red leicester and cheddar are especially common in crisps, as their relative mildness makes fir a suitable pairing with darker ales. Indeed a packet of Mini Cheddars would be an ideal pairing to the likes of Mena Dhu (4.5%) - St. Austell, as it helps exentuate the complex malt profile of the beer, which features up to six different malts (Pale, Crystal, Chocolate, Smoked, Malted Oats and Roasted Barley) in the mix. The flavourings from the cheddar flavoured crisps actually improve the overall drinking experience. Moreover the marmite style flavourings from crisps like Twiglets would also make a good pairing with darker coloured beers, which staringly obvious since these crisps were originally made from excess brewers yeast, as the strong, salty, earthy and unami rich flavours make an ideal pairing with the astrigent excesses of any Stout, Porter or Dark Mild. Moreover, on the other end of the ABV scale, beer styles like IPA and Strong Ale tend to have deeper and more pronounced flavours, for instance a traditional English IPA is known for their dinstinctly hoppy and aromatic flavour profile, with notes of citrus, spice, caramel and herbs thrown into the mix, along with a bready and biscuity malty mouthfeel to contend with. Indeed other styles like East Coast IPA's and NEIPA have even more hop forward flavours, particuarly when hops like Citra are utilized. Brewers often suggest spicy flavours are the ideal way to temper the beast, and none come more better than a curry, as the spiciness helps counteract the strong flavours that come through with IPA. Most crisps manufacturers usually go for milder types of curries when utilzing them for inspiration, as something like Vindaloo would be perhaps a step to far, unless you happen to be Dave Lister. I have frequently come across flavours like Chicken Tikka, Madras, Katsu Curry and even Currywurst on my travels, not only do curry flavoured crisps have aromatic qualities, they sometimes have a trace of lactose to help cut through the excesses of the spices, much like a real curry made with yoghurt would. So whether you sample a strong IPA like Green Devil IPA (6%) - Oakham, or Star of Eastbourne (6.5%) - Harvey's, the flavours from something like Chip Shop Curry flavoured McCoys is an ideal pairing with this beer style, as it helps pacify the strong flavours coming through from the IPA, yet at the same time it helps bring out the rich and varied flavour profile that is commonly associtated with this beer style. 

At the end of the day when it comes to crisp and beer pairings it really comes down to personal taste. Indeed it would be a pretty obvious choice just go for ready salted as drinkers have done for over a century, but this particular flavour adds nothing to the beer. Today, we are spoilt for choice when it comes to the wide array of flavours out there to choose from, and this allows for more oppertunity to expand our horizons and try out different flavours of crisps with various beer styles.  After all, it is well known that the fatiness from crisps coats your tongue, making you drink more, so choosing the appropriate flavour pairing is imperitive for improving the overall drinking experience whether it would be a sessionable and malty Best Bitter or a dry hopped and citrussy Double IPA. Indeed, there may be plenty of trial and error involved, but hopefully this brief exploration into flavour town will help educate your tastebuds and encourage you to open up a pack of crisps when you next have a pint down the pub or at home. 

Ealing Beer Festival 2024

Earlier this month, I trekked to the depths of west London in search of the elusive Ealing Beer Festival; tucked away in Walpole Park nestled on the edge of town, it was difficult to find without having to rely on my trusty map. Now in its 33rd iteration, beer festivals have been held in Ealing since 1987, when the first one dubbed 'Beers on Broadway' was held at Ealing Town Hall, after a brief detour to Acton in 1989, it came back to Ealing the following year, and despite a few gaps in-between, a beer festival has been held on an annual basis every Summer. Since 2008, the festival has been held at Walpole Park, following the radical decision in the previous year to make it an outdoor event, the area itself is held within an enclosed space within the park grounds surrounding the central bar area, appropriately covered under a circus tent to avoid any risk from potential adverse weather conditions. The tent space is neatly divided in to four bars, along with separate mini-bars for low alcohol, cider & perry, as well as a keg bar; the latter example is a rising feature at CAMRA beer festivals, which I've encountered several times on my travels over the past few years. Although this is a welcome development since a number of independent breweries are now experimenting with keg beers, this is potentially controversial issue as this flies in the face on what CAMRA stands for, giving support to the perseverance and preservation to the UK's extensive cask ale producing industry, so any move towards keg has understandably been met with consternation from some of the membership. Another interesting feature to this was the inclusion of the low alcohol bar, over the past decade low and no alcohol beers have increased in popularity as people (especially the 18-24 age group) has embraced lower ABV alternatives, which is perhaps a reflection on growing health awareness and the decline in the pub drinking culture among the young, as they eschew the time-honoured traditions of the older generations, who would typically head down to the local boozer following a long day at the office.

The festival runs over four days, typically in July and always before GBBF, though since the latter is currently on hiatus this year, it means this festival has by default become the highest profile Summer
beer festival to be held in London this year. The festival primarily boasts beers from London and home counties, in particular Sussex, Kent, Surrey and Berkshire, although examples from breweries based further afield are also represented. Now, the expression, closing the barn-door after the horse has bolted often follows me when I visit beer festivals as I tend to visit them on the final day. This is somewhat ill-conceived and a poison chalice as I often miss out on the more interesting beers on offer, including the elusive limited edition festival specials of legend. So rather predictably on the day I visited with my friend (and fellow real ale enthusiast) Andy, only a quarter of the total beers were still available on tap, this severely put a dent into our plans and we were left with the grim reality of having to scavenge for the last remaining scraps in the barrel, if you pardon the pun. Fortunately, there was just enough choice, to try beers from several different beer styles, which I often aim to do when attending beer festivals. The first beer I tried was Golding Bitter (4.1%) by Kent Brewery, it as rather hoppy with a notable bitterness that hit the tastebuds at full throttle upon first sip, it was complimented with a dry mouthfeel that was counteracted by the distinctive malt forward background that helped extenuate the compelling use of Goldings hops, which the brew is keen to celebrate, despite its low ABV it's ingenious use of flavourings helped make it stronger than its official strength would suggest. Moving on, I quickly noticed that the selection of Stouts and Porters were in low supply, so after sampling a few that were remaining I settled on Choco (5.8) by Stardust Brewery, a chocolate stout by nature it was a veritable celebration of this iconic sweet which would equally appeal to those with a sweet-tooth and fans of darker ales alike. Fortunately, in this case, the beer didn't fall into the trap of those overly flavoured and profoundly sickly pastry stouts that dominate the market at the moment, in this instance the brewers have put out all the stops to make this a memorable drink. Rather appropriately for a stout, it was strong, with potent flavours of roasted malt, hints of chocolate, coffee and berry fruits, with traces of butterscotch running through the palate. On the aroma front, although I could detect a profound whiff of chocolate, there was intriguing vanilla hint going on in the fringes. Moreover, the mouthfeel was heavy and cloying, although it lacked creaminess which would have made the beer more luscious. There was a profound sense of strength going on with brew, which is definitely not the type to be drinking several in a session, unless you intend to get absolutely smashed. For the third brew of the day, I headed 'oop North' to sample Rocket (4.8%) by Manchester based brewery Marble. Named the iconic steam locomotive that carried the first regular passenger rail service (between Manchester - Liverpool) in 1830, as a train enthusiast I was keen to try this. Unfortunately, in my case I encountered neither soot or smoke in the brew, as it was a rather typical northern style best-bitter boasting an amber-gold appearance with a gentle hoppiness, balanced by a sweet-malt background. It was a rather easy-drinking beer despite its strength, although the lack of head put a dent into detecting any excess flavourings that may have been hiding in the barrel. It was far from impressive, as the flavours seemed trundle along at a low speed without hitting the mark by the time it reached it terminus.

At beer festivals, I typically go for at least one strong ale, amidst all the golden ales, porter, stouts and bitters that I typically try. IPA is usually a typical draw, as they are usually more common at festivals than their other strong-armed counterparts, and since it was the final day of the festival there was not much to choose from that at this point, other than an IPA or a low-level imperial stout measuring at 7.8%! With my appetite now on the wane, following a starched filled lunch of dosas and crispy bhajia, I settled for the IPA instead, which came in the form of From the Wave (6.4%) by Iron Pier, a Margate based brewery which I had become familiar with following my research into Kent's extensive green-hop beer industry. Rather predicably for an IPA of this class, it was packed full of tropical fruits, with strong citrussy aromas and flavourings that seeped through the tastebuds, there was a good smattering of hops in the background, although it was evenly balanced with a malty backbone, that boasted hints of caramel like sweetness, which provided a decent counterpoint to the action. Profoundly amber in colour like a tropical sunset, this brew boasted plenty of strength, yet the balance of flavours prevented it from being too overwhelming for the senses. Evening was setting in by this point, and with the last crumbs of energy, I decided to go north of the border for my final libation of the day, and sampled some Hurricane Jack (4.4%) by Fyne Ales. A session style blonde ale, it was more of a light breeze than a hurricane when it came to flavour, it was rather biscuity, light with hints of citrus swirling in the heather, it was lightly hopped and notably refreshing in its mouthfeel. There was not much going with this beer, which proved to be a disappointment, but by this point in the day in my depleted state, I was not too concerned trying to go for stronger and heavily hopped beers, so the brew easily served it’s purpose.  

 

My festival experience was rather mixed, since we attended on the last day, the lack of beers that were still available, severely put a dent on the proceedings, as I was keen to beers from a variety of styles, in particular brown and red ales which had all but run dry by this time. My waning, starch filled appetite was also increasingly having an effect, and with each successive drink, I found it increasingly hard to digest. So, if your new and inexperienced at the game of attending beer festivals, I would advise you attend on the first or second day, as there will be a wider array of beers available to choose from. I also advise against having a big meal before the proceedings, and eat in moderation between drinks, a trusty bag of crips or a protein filled snack is quite advisable, as it doesn't affect the appetite and helps settle the stomach which is crucial if you intend on sampling several drinks over the course of the day. As a location it was bit difficult to get to, and its alfresco park-based setting is a tad-orthodox, so if your seeking comfort I would advise you bring a blanket and a foldable chair along, if you don't want your behind covered in grass and dirt. As a festival I didn't really rate it, although attending on the last day severely put a dent on my judgement with the lack of beers remaining, yet being ever the intrepid explorer, it was a yet another festival to add to my growing bucket list.