One of the best things about craft beer is how well it pairs with food. Unlike wine, which has centuries of established pairing rules, beer gives you more room to experiment - and often more flavour to work with. At IronBark Hill Brewing Co in Pokolbin, we brew everything on-site and serve it alongside pizza and share platters at the Wildstreak Kitchen. So food and beer pairing isn't just a concept for us - it's what we do every day at the cellar door.
Here's a practical guide to matching our beers with food, whether you're eating at the taproom or cracking a can at home.
Light and Crisp: Far Canal Lager and Hazy Train Hazy Pale
When you're reaching for something lighter - seafood, salads, antipasto platters - you want a beer that refreshes without overpowering the food.
Far Canal Lager (4.0% ABV) is brewed with all Australian hops and single origin malts. It has subtle flavours of biscuit and malt, residual sweetness and light bitterness - the kind of beer that cleans your palate between bites without competing for attention. Silver Medal at the 2024 Australian Independent Beer Awards.
Pair it with: Fresh oysters, fish and chips, a simple margherita pizza from the Wildstreak Kitchen, or a cheese and charcuterie board. Far Canal is also the beer you want on a warm afternoon in the beer garden with nothing more than some good conversation.
Hazy Train Hazy Pale (4.3% ABV) is our sessionable hazy, bursting with ripe mango, papaya and melon, with layers of pine lime and a touch of dankness from American hops. The tropical fruit character makes it surprisingly versatile with food.
Pair it with: Fish tacos, prawn skewers, Thai-style salads, or anything with a citrus dressing. The mango and melon notes in Hazy Train complement lighter Asian flavours beautifully - think fresh spring rolls or a green papaya salad.
Hop-Forward: American Pale Ale and Hop Circus IPA
Hops bring bitterness, and bitterness loves bold flavours. The more robust the beer, the more it can stand up to rich, spicy, and chargrilled food.
American Pale Ale (5.2% ABV) is our most popular beer - brewed with all American hops and single origin malts from Voyager. Pine, crisp citrus and juicy tropical notes finish with good bitterness. It's won Silver at both the 2023 and 2024 Sydney Royal Beer & Cider Show, and there's a reason it's the one most people come back for.
Pair it with: Burgers, pepperoni pizza, BBQ chicken wings, or a loaded antipasto platter. The citrus and pine cut through fat and char, while the bitterness resets your palate for the next bite. This is our go-to recommendation when someone sits down at the Wildstreak Kitchen and asks "what beer goes with pizza?"
Hop Circus IPA (6.5% ABV) takes things up a notch. A hop bill of Centennial, Citra, Mosaic and Simcoe delivers vibrant citrus and tropical characters - bright grapefruit and mango aromas, piney undertones and subtle earthy notes. Our 30th beer to be canned, and a favourite among hop heads.
Pair it with: Spicy food is where IPA really shines. The hops mirror the heat instead of fighting it. Try it with a spicy nduja pizza, buffalo wings, a curry, or a pulled pork sandwich with jalapeños. The bitterness and tropical aromatics both amplify and balance chilli heat in a way that lighter beers can't match.
Dark and Indulgent: Black Forest Stout
Dark beers and dessert - it's one of the great underrated pairings. Most people wouldn't think to drink a stout with chocolate, but once you try it, you won't go back.
Black Forest Stout (5.2% ABV) is brewed with English hops, single origin Australian Ale malt, Chocolate malt and roasted barley. Fresh pureed cherries and real dark chocolate are added late in fermentation, creating a stout that genuinely tastes like Black Forest Cake. Gold Medal at the 2023 Australian Independent Beer Awards - our most awarded beer.
Pair it with: A chocolate brownie, vanilla bean ice cream, dark chocolate truffles, or a rich blue cheese. The cherry and chocolate flavours in the stout mirror the sweetness in dessert, while the roasted malt and bitterness stop it from becoming cloying. It's also brilliant with a beef cheek pie or slow-braised lamb - the malty depth matches the richness of long-cooked meats.
If you're visiting the taproom as the weather cools this autumn, Black Forest Stout with a pizza and a cheese plate is hard to beat.
General Pairing Principles
You don't need to memorise a chart. A few simple ideas will get you most of the way:
- Match intensity. Light beer with light food, dark beer with rich food. A lager with oysters, a stout with steak.
- Complement or contrast. Either echo the flavours (tropical hazy with tropical fruit) or play opposites (bitter IPA with spicy wings).
- Think about what the beer does to your palate. Carbonation scrubs fat, bitterness cuts sweetness, roasted malts echo caramelised and charred flavours.
The best way to learn? Sit down, order a tasting paddle, and try a few combinations. That's how we do it here.
Try It at the Taproom - or at Home
At IronBark Hill in Pokolbin, you can taste your way through the full range on tap and match it with pizza, share platters and more from the Wildstreak Kitchen - open Wednesday to Sunday for lunch. Book a table and let us walk you through the pairings in person.
If you'd rather experiment at home, the Discovery Pack ($90) is a hand-picked selection of our core and seasonal beers - a great way to set up your own tasting with friends and a cheese board.
And if you're around Newcastle on March 28, we'll be pouring at Newcastle Beer Fest at King Edward Park - including a couple of festival-exclusive brews you won't find anywhere else.
IronBark Hill Brewing Co - 694 Hermitage Rd, Pokolbin NSW 2320. Open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am-4pm. Visit us.
