Seventy one percent of consumers look for complementary foods when choosing a craft beer at restaurants and bars,¹ which means it’s more important than ever to choose foods that complement popular craft beers. McCain® Foods True Beer Food™ offers crunchy texture and crafted quality that create better guest experiences – making the food and beer pairings offering a no-brainer.

Here are five ways to pair delicious food with craft beers that will keep your guests coming back for more:

With caramel notes and a toasty malt with a smooth finish, an Amber Ale goes great with rich, aromatic, spicy and smoked foods, making it the most versatile beer to pair.

Try creating a savory house-made sauce of amber ale, horseradish and sour cream that serves as the perfect dipper for any spicy appetizers, like spicy pickle fries. The heat of spicy pickle fries and creamy horseradish balances with the light hoppiness of an amber ale.

IPAs are more of a bitter, bready, grainy malt with a hoppy aroma. They complement intense flavors like blue cheese, game and dishes with aromatic spices.

Use an IPA to create a beer cheese, drizzle over a half-pound burger and top with jalapeños. The heat of the jalapeños on this flavor-packed burger is quickly cooled by the malt in the IPA while the bitterness of the hops cuts through the rich cheese. Guests will love this spicy and smooth combo.

Bready, doughy and grainy wheat flavors complemented by hop flavor and mild bitterness make up American Wheat beers, which pair well with classic brunch items like omelets or hashbrowns, as well as Asian flavors.

Pair an American Wheat with breakfast sliders made with flavorful chorizo and hashbrowns instead of bread. The malt flavor of beer perfectly cools the heat of the chorizo while complementing the crispy potatoes. With almost 60 percent of consumers saying they would eat out more frequently if breakfast items were offered on more lunch and dinner menus², this pairing provides the perfect way to combine all day breakfast with your guests’ love of craft beer.

Pale Ales offer a malty sweetness balanced by hoppy bitterness and they pair well with dishes that contain lemongrass, garlic, cilantro and similar flavors.

Pair your local pale ale with a new twist on nachos, tortilla chips topped with chili con carne, fresh guacamole, cheese curds, cool sour cream and mild Pico de Gallo. This pairing will make taste buds rejoice when the hoppy bitterness highlights the garlicky and herbal flavors in these loaded nachos while the malt flavor balances out the mild spice and creamy richness.

By leveraging the largest portfolio of beer-battered and beer-loving foods in foodservice, you can create pairings your guests can’t resist. For additional information on True Beer Foods, visit http://www.mccainusafoodservice.com/truebeerfood.