Which beer? The expert advice on matching your brew with your snacks

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When you're enjoying a couple of cold beers chances are your thoughts will also turn to some delicious satisfying snacks to enjoy as well.

The right beer with the right food can be a heavenly thing, enhancing the enjoyment of both. Like wine and food pairing, matching food with beer can lift a dish and also showcase the complexities of a really great brew.

With one of Canberra's newest dining hotspots, The Bavarian, obsessed with just this topic we thought we'd get some expert tips from the restaurant's resident biermeister, area manager Roman Haslinger.

The chefs at the Woden restaurant have recently unveiled a menu of snacks they think are perfect beer mates: house made sausage rolls featuring a mix of The Bavarian's famous beef bratwurst and pork sausage, accompanied by German mustard; 'sloppy' fries with pickled onions, jalapenos and ranch dressing; and spicy popcorn chicken. We asked Roman to suggest the most sublime beer pairing for each one.

Starting with the sausage rolls. Roman said he would choose either a lager from South Australian brewers Pirate Life or a Bavarian dark beer like Hofbrau Dunkel.

"Pirate Life Local Lager is simple and clean, combining the sweetness of the Vienna and Pilsner malt with herbaceous, earthy and spicy flavours from the spalt and perle hops," he said.

"This beer finishes super dry encouraging the drinker to return for more of its thirst-quenching goodness. Just like our sausages rolls - simple, good, delicious and something you want to go back for more of."

"Or you can do it like the Bavarians would do it with the Hofbrau Dunkel. When beer lovers talk about dark beer, they usually mean a Munich-style beer and the Hofbrau Dunkel is the archetypal Bavarian beer.

"With an alcohol content of around 5.5 per cent and its spicy taste, it's a refreshing beer that suits all kinds of hearty food. When you think of Bavaria, you think sausages and dark beer."

Next, with a serve of The Bavarian's 'sloppy' fries, Roman's advice is either an American-style pale ale like 4 Pines Pale Ale, or a crisp weissbier like Franziskaner Hefe Weissbier.

"The 4 Pines Pale Ale is an American style pale ale with a bright ruby appearance, with hop-driven aromas of citrus, pine and grapefruit and rounded malty flavours, setting up for a tight and bitter finish. It's a perfect match to go with the array of flavours from the sweet, spice, sour of our sloppy fries.

"Then the Franziskaner Hefe Weissbier has aromas of banana and cloves and biscuity notes from the the malt. It's big on refreshing clove character, wheaty with low tartness. It's got medium carbonation, a soft mouth feel, and is a bit dry, very crisp and refreshing.

If your choice is the spicy, popcorn chicken garnished with sliced fresh chili and shallots Roman's tip is either a full-flavoured lager like Pure Blonde or a German pils like Paulaner Pils.

"Pure Blonde is a refreshing lager, brewed using the finest ingredients, with no preservatives to deliver an easy-drinking, ultra-low carb beer," he said. "Hersbrucker hops add a floral and herbal aroma balancing the light style of the beer - exactly what you want to accompany a spicy chicken dish. This beer is not overpowering in taste, while giving refreshing relief from the spice.

"Paulaner Pils is a classic German pils, with a clean and firm grassy bitterness, lemon and pear-like hop flavours, crisp biscuity maltiness, and some herbal notes.

"It's a clean and simple beer, just what is needed with a spicy chicken snack."

If you like the sound of these delicious pairings make your way to The Bavarian Woden for Happy Hour from 4pm to 6pm daily - it's Royal Snack Hour which means you get one of the dishes free with each beer (or wine). Head to the website for all the details.

This is advertiser content for The Bavarian.