Today is not just the first day of August, it's also National IPA Day. Over the last several years, Americans have developed more advanced beer palates, and as that interest has grown, so has the increase of craft breweries and microbreweries across the country. Demand has grown for beers other than your standard, mass produced ale or lager. One of the fastest growing styles of brew is the IPA, and you'd be hard pressed to find a row of taps at a bar that doesn't have at least one of them.
For the uninitiated, IPA stands for "Indian Pale Ale." The IPA is distinguished by it's heavy use of hops and its intense flavor and bitterness. This makes the beverage itself a bit polarizing, but makes it an enticing ingredient for a countless number of recipes.
Nowadays, pairing beer with food is just as necessary as pairing wine, but why not find a food to pair with your beer every now and then? This list should give you a few ideas on how to incorporate an IPA into your next meal for a rich and complex taste.
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10. Molasses Stout Glazed Salmon with Herb IPA Mashed Potatoes
Here's a recipe that incorporates a couple of different beers that are equally full-flavored in their own respects.
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9. Beer Soaked Oven Fries
The British tradition of dipping your fries (or, chips) in vinegar is gradually making it's way to the states. If you're not ready for such a radical commitment, though, these pale-ale fries are a safe step in that lightly bitter/salty direction.
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8. Brown Butter Grilled Beer Cheese Sandwich
Grilled cheese is one of the great comfort foods, mainly because you can't go wrong with it. Whether you go traditional, or make any variation on it, such as this mozzarella, cream cheese, and IPA infused spread.
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7. Fish and Chips
If there's one thing beer is good for in cooking, it's batter. This recipe calls for a full-flavored beer, and an IPA certainly falls under that category.
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6. IPA Crab Cakes with Spicy Beer Hollandaise
Seafood is the perfect subtle medium to capture an IPA's complexities, and these crab cakes will impress any guest.
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5. Roasted Asparagus with Beer Béarnaise Sauce
There's just something about Asparagus and an IPA that goes together well. These would work well as a side to any dish, but be warned, they'll be the star of any main course.
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4. Beer Cheese Pizza Dip
We all want to get creative with our spreads at parties, and dips are a dynamic and easy option for any event. What's more mass appeal than beer and pizza? Not much, and this recipe offers both.
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2. Jalapeño IPA Hummus
Here's three items that are trendy in the food world at the moment: Jalapeños, IPA's, and Hummus. So why not combine them all? Like seafood, Hummus is an adaptable food that's conducive to all kinds of different ingredients and variables.
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1. Buffalo Chicken Beer Cheese Dip
Odds are, you've either had buffalo chicken dip or seen the recipe on the side of a bottle of hot sauce. There are few things more American than buffalo chicken and a domestic pale ale. A good IPA is a great addition to a very simple recipe.