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Zilker Brewing and Spicy Boys Fried Chicken Credit: Zilker Brewing<\/p>\nZilker Brewing and Spicy Boys Fried Chicken Credit: Zilker Brewing<\/p>\n
With a few notable exceptions \u2013 like sake at a sushi omakase or mezcal at a high-end Mexican restaurant \u2013 food and alcohol pairings usually center around wine. Wine-food partnerships like Cabernet Sauvignon & steak and Champagne & oysters are common knowledge among regular diners and are known for highlighting the unique flavors and dynamics of both elements. But in a city as beer-centric as Austin, wouldn\u2019t it make more sense for restaurants to home in on food pairings that involve local craft brews?<\/p>\n
Will Jaquiss, founder and brewmaster of Meanwhile Brewing<\/a>, sees some real merit to this idea, if for no other reason than because \u201cPairing beer with food is fun!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBeer is very versatile and forgiving (more so than wine even), so [you] don\u2019t need to worry about nailing it perfectly,\u201d he explains via email. \u201cLots of different styles of beer can pair with any particular dish.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Luckily, a number of elite indie breweries in Austin prioritize food friendliness when designing their signature beer styles and seasonal releases. \u201cAll of our beers take into account our food menu, our atmosphere, and the two weather seasons we have here in Austin,\u201d explains Taylor Ziebarth, founder of Oddwood Brewing<\/a>. \u201cWe skew every beer to be lighter on the malt notes [with a] lighter mouthfeel, higher on the carbonation levels, [with] above-average bitterness levels, and a touch on the acidic side to help stand up to our flavorful pizzas and Austin\u2019s endless summer. Crispy pizzas and crispy beers!\u201d<\/p>\n Creating beers that pair successfully with specific food (and finding dishes that pair well with a brewery\u2019s existing beer repertoire) requires brewers to \u201cunderstand the intention behind the food,\u201d says Patrick Clark, co-founder at Zilker Brewing<\/a>. \u201cHow do the makers want people to experience it? From there, you can look at the ingredients they\u2019re using for inspiration and see how subtle touches might be added to a beer to create a connection. Start small with any new flavors or adjuncts so the food stays in the spotlight and the beer complements it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Another approach, according to Clark, is \u201cto really dive into the fundamentals of flavor \u2013 sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami \u2013 and figure out how to express those through beer. That takes time, but it\u2019s worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n Many of the best beer-food pairings in Austin happen as a result of collaborations between brewers and chefs. When Clark\u2019s team at Zilker gets involved with a project like this, \u201cWe like to sit down with our partners, get a real sense of what they\u2019re going for with their food, and then build a beer that [complements] it instead of competing with it. Whenever we can, we\u2019ll pull inspiration from the ingredients they use \u2013 but in a subtle, nuanced way.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the most famous real-life examples of what Clark describes can be found in Zilker Icy Boys, a Japanese-style rice lager developed with the Spicy Boys Fried Chicken truck (one of which can be found at Zilker\u2019s East Sixth taproom). Clark says that, when it comes to building a flavor profile for Icy Boys, \u201cOur goal was pretty simple \u2013 we wanted a beer that could cool off the heat from Spicy Boys\u2019 bold flavors and spices. A palate cleanser or \u2018cooler,\u2019 if you will.\u201d The process of working with Spicy Boys included \u201cbrewing several test batches, sampling them together, and talking through what we were aiming for until we landed on the right balance.\u201d The end result of this team experience is \u201ca clean, simple lager made with high-quality ingredients\u201d that has become as iconic in Austin as the piquant chicken sandwiches and nuggets that inspired the brew.<\/p>\n Another brewery that\u2019s tight with the Spicy Boys truck \u2013 St. Elmo Brewing<\/a> \u2013 also takes pride in its beers created to pair with certain dishes. \u201cWith pairings, the classic question is whether you want the beverage to [complement] or contrast with the food,\u201d says founder Bryan Winslow. \u201cWell-made light beer, like [St. Elmo] Carl, is an easy go-to, as it pairs with a ton of different types of food. Beers like stouts, porter, or barleywine tend to be sweet and pair very well with an array of desserts.\u201d<\/p>\n A notable recent collaboration for St. Elmo featured LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue and a new beer called Smoke on the Lager, which Winslow describes as \u201ca lightly-smoked amber lager.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s toasty, slightly smoky, and has a touch of dark fruit on top of a dry finish. It is perfect when drunk in their restaurant with a plate full of beef cheek and sausage,\u201d he says. This experience with LeRoy and Lewis \u201creminded me of how seriously fun our work can be. The beer and food we made together was created with all of the intention, care and focus imaginable. Yet simultaneously, it is created in the most fun environment with the kindest people around.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Linking up with outside restaurants or a food truck parked outside lets brewers flex their creative muscles, but working with an in-house kitchen can lead to a longer-lasting focus on how craft beers and dishes interact with each other. Oddwood Brewing gets to experience the best of both worlds; with the KG BBQ trailer parked out front, \u201cWe have had several collaboration beers focusing on the flavors of pomegranate,\u201d Ziebarth says. \u201cWe\u2019ve gone down the road of brewing a pomegranate-laden sour beer and also working up several beer cocktails to pair with [KG BBQ\u2019s] menu. We feel the lighter, food-friendly nature of our beer [plays] nicely with their menu.\u201d But the brewery also gets to try new mix-and-match strategies with its own pizza-focused house menu. For instance, \u201cA few years ago, we changed our pepperoni brand to a spicy, cupping pepperoni. The spicy, crunchy texture of the pie mates perfectly with our house German pilsner. The spicy, floral, lemony German hops and the dry bitter finish really help cut the pepperoni and mozzarella oils. It\u2019s a personal favorite [pairing] of mine,\u201d Ziebarth tells us.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/BEER-Oddwood-Meanwhile.jpg\")
Oddwood (left) and Meanwhile Brewing<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/BEER-quote.png\")
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Credit: St. Elmo Brewing<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/BEER-Pinthouse.jpg\")
Credit: Pinthouse Brewing<\/p>\n
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