The Holer Pale Ale food pairing

Matching your beverage of choice to your food can do great things for both the dish and the drink.

The most well-known food and drink pairings usually involve wine; Champagne and oysters, steak
and powerful red wine, popcorn and chardonnay (honesty, give it a go). However, beer can also
pair well with food. The right combination can elevate a dish and bring out the unique flavours of
the brew.

Here at the Hole in the Wall, we have our own pale ale. The Holer Pale Ale is a full-bodied IPA craft
beer with a slightly bitter finish. Cracking open a bottle you can smell the hoppy fusions and get
notes of grapefruit, passion fruit, pine and citrus. It’s very refreshing.

You can sip the Holer Pale Ale on its own but it does go really well with food too.

Rather than just pair the ale to one dish, think about the different element of the beer, or the dish,
that you want to bring out or mellow.

For example, to contrast the bitter finish of The Holer Pale Ale, pair it with something salty and fatty
like fish and chips. The salt will mellow out the bitterness of the ale and the zesty nature of The
Holer Pale Ale makes the ale feel like it is cutting through the fattiness of the chips. Almost like it is
cleansing the palate.

As The Holer Pale Ale is full-bodied, it can hold its own against more hearty dishes like a Sunday
roast or sausages and mashed potato. Lighter-bodied beers go well with salads. Having said that,
our Holer Pale Ale goes great with a goat’s cheese salad as the tangy cheese really compliments
the tanginess of the beer.

To bring out the fruity and zesty notes of The Holer Pale Ale, you could pair it with our open
smoked salmon sandwich with a squeeze of lemon on top. The lemon will heighten the citrus notes
of the ale. The pine flavours of the beer go great with root vegetables so try it with our roast turkey
and ham plate with herb stuffing, root veg and mash and gravy. It also goes great with our
Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Linguini. Delicious.

Pale Ales in general pair well with steaks, barbecue and Mexican food (think of the zesty lime and
tomatoes flavours) and they also pair well with cheese dishes. So when you are having our cajun
burger or mixed bean burger consider ordering a cold bottle of The Holer Pale Ale to pair with your
grub.

Don’t forget about pairing The Holer Pale Ale with your dessert. The Holer goes great with carrot
cake. The pine notes complement the carrot (a root vegetable) and the sweetness of the carrots,
and the frosting, balance out the bitterness of the hops. Of course, the citrus notes in The Holer
Pale Ale burst to life when paired with our zesty key lime pie. They are a perfect match.