15 Ways Beer Experts Pair Brews With Ice Cream

Ice cream is an excellent accompaniment to so many different desserts; you can pair it with cookies for absolutely decadent ice cream sandwiches or add a scoop to your pie to go à la mode. But, one pairing that might not come to mind so quickly is beer and ice cream.

The marriage between beer and this frosty, frozen dessert really takes the ice cream and soda combination and spins it on its head. You'll get the same effervescence and frothiness that you'd find in a solid soda, along with the hoppy and malty notes from your beer of choice. All of it intertwines with the sweet, subtle flavor notes of the cold, creamy ice cream. It's heavenly — albeit unconventional.

But, you can't just grab the leftovers from last night's pint and crack open a bottle of whatever is in your fridge; you have to be rather deliberate in the way you mix a type of beer and flavor of ice cream together. In order to find the best pairings, I consulted a range of experts, including Rachel Chitwood from The Tipsy Scoop, Denver restauranteur and chef Spencer White, Tim Hanaseth from SoBear Brewing Company, Brian Durand from Asbury Park Brewery, Skip Schwartz from WeldWorks Brewing, and Luke Slater from The Cask Connoisseur, on how to best match beer with ice cream.

Finding your perfect beer-and-ice-cream mashup involves starting with the basics. Rather than diving in to the strangest Ben & Jerry's flavor in the cooler, find the types of beer that pair well with a basic, vanilla ice cream and go from there. Rachel Chitwood from Tipsy Scoop suggests combining Miller High Life's American-style lager with vanilla ice cream for a classic, refreshing combo. In general, American-style lagers are far from bitter; they have a relatively neutral, and subtly sweet flavor profile. Granted, the exact brand that you select will vary tremendously, which is why pairing it with a simple vanilla ice cream is a good, simple way to get things started. The vanilla ice cream will let the flavors in the beer shine, but also lend itself well to subtle sweet, caramel notes. But, the excitement doesn't stop there. The Tipsy Scoop staff also recommends adding salty peanuts, a drizzle of caramel, and chocolate to help elevate this duo and add extra texture.

Other beer experts have different recommendations. Denver restauranteur Spencer White suggests pairing vanilla ice cream with a milk stout, while Luke Slater from The Cask Connoisseur recommends pairing plain vanilla with a bitter Newcastle brown ale. "They both have a smooth, rich texture and also the creaminess of the ice cream and the smooth body of the ale can create a harmonious mouthfeel," Slater explains.

Chocolate and coffee are surely a match made in heaven. The reason why these two go together so well is because the sweetness, and the subtle bitterness, of the chocolate really parallels the complex flavor of the coffee quite well. Besides these java notes, you'll also get the sweetness from the ice cream base, which can harmonize with a rather dark or heavy beer.

Rachel Chitwood notes that one of the popular options at The Tipsy Scoop is the Night Owl, which is made with a spiked hazelnut coffee ice cream (made with tequila and hazelnut liqueur), cold brew, and DuClaw Brewing's Sweet Baby Java chocolate peanut butter porter. Sippers get a double coffee whammy, and will find those complex chocolate notes from the porter, too. This concoction certainly has a lot going on, so you can always start with a more simple pairing, like a simple, coffee ice cream with a classic chocolate porter. Yuengling's Hershey's porter may be a great place to start.

Meanwhile, Skip Schwartz from WeldWorks Brewing recommends pairing the coffee ice cream with a bold imperial stout. "The high ABV helps cut through the creaminess of the ice cream, balancing the dessert with a pleasantly warming finish," Schwartz adds. He also notes that the roasted coffee flavors in this stout are a match made in heaven for the subtle java notes in the ice cream.

If you like frothy, flavorful beer, chances are that you've had a Guinness a time or two. Guinness is a widely popular stout that has extremely barley-forward flavors. Besides those obvious dark, malty notes, it's easy to taste some lingering chocolate and coffee undertones in the beer, too. The heavy, yet still sweet flavor of the stout pairs remarkably well with a light maple ice cream. Most maple ice creams have subtly woody and oaky notes, along with undertones of caramel and vanilla. While none of these notes in particular are exact matches to the Guinness, the overall palate and harmony of the maple ice cream is a great complement to this frothy, rich selection. Plus, it's even better if you can find a maple ice cream studded with walnuts or pecans, which really bounce off the subtle chocolate notes of the stout.

"The malty sweetness of the beer paired perfectly with the creamy maple ice cream — then that Guinness hoppy bitterness appeared at the end to cut the sweetness," Rachel Chitwood explains. She shares that her team adds a maple pancake crunch to the top of this pairing to tie it all together.

Black cherry ice cream may not be your pick of the litter at your local scoop shop, but it does have its time and its place. Most cherry ice creams that I've come across have predominant vanilla notes that don't really taste like cherry until you hit the mother-load of massive cherry chunks deep in the pint. The subtle fruitiness of this ice cream, which may also incorporate some chocolate or fudge flecks, pairs well with a pale ale. American pale ale, not to be confused with India pale ale, is light and effervescent, which means that it doesn't have any heaviness that would otherwise drown out those subtle vanilla notes in the ice cream.

This beverage is rather light and palate cleansing, which makes for a very plausible pairing for the cherries. The fruitiness from the ice cream also meshes well with the slightly citrusy undertones of the beer.

A radler is the perfect summer beverage for sipping. The inclusion of lemonade or lemon-lime soda really helps moderate the flavor of this brew, so it not only has a lower ABV content than other beers, but is significantly easier to drink. It's light, bright, and needs an ice cream pairing that will complement it and put those same lemon notes as the forefront.

For this pairing, I'd strongly recommend opting for a lemon sorbet. Not only can you use this pairing for a radler, but you can also use if for a shandy mixed with something other than lemon juice, like one that uses grapefruit or orange juice, instead. The citrus can hold its own quite well and really bring that tangy brightness to the forefront of the beverage. Lemon ice cream is another combo that could work well here, but it has a little more of a creamy mouthfeel that doesn't necessarily do the tart beer any favors. A sorbet, on the other hand, is juicy and more ripe with citrus notes.

Sour beers are admittedly difficult libations to pair. Tim Hanaseth, founder of the SoBear Brewing Company, recommends pairing sour beer with something that can stand up to the beverage's puckering acidity and balance out the tartness with other flavors. One of his go-to matches for guava sour is a strawberry mango sorbet. Fear not if you only have one of this duo, as both mango and strawberry sorbet can hold their own when paired with your beer.

"The hints of guava and the sweet/sour flavors of the strawberry mango just combine so well," he explains. "It almost feels like you're on a resort with your toes in the sand, not the pool backyard." This is surely in large help to the sorbet's sweetness and acidity. Like other sorbets on the list, this pairing is rather juicy and doesn't leave you with the same creamy mouthfeel that ice cream would. Plus, the sorbets tend to turn up the notch on sugar, which can subdue some of the tartness of the beer.

If there's a beer on this list that could pair well with seemingly endless amounts of beer, it would be orange sherbet or ice cream. Luke Slater recommends pairing an orange ice cream with a Blue Moon beer. "This will bring out the citrus aroma in the beer and enhance the drinking experience," he explains. Restauranteur Spencer White, on the other hand, recommends pairing the orange ice cream with a Belgian Witbier — more specifically the White Rascal from Avery Brewing.

Both of these white beers are excellent options for pairing with these respective white beers. If you really like the flavor of orange, you should go with the Blue Moon, as Slater suggests. It's brewed with Valencia orange peel, which adds a bit more of a citrusy, yet sweet edge to the beer. Belgian Witbier may not have that same pronounced orange flavor, but it still has mellow citrus notes accentuated by the fruitiness of the ice cream.

Lime sorbet is a bit of an acquired taste, but it's still one of those ice cream varieties that really screams summer. The flavor is bright and popping, yet still sweet, which means that it can hold its ground when paired with a slightly sweet, yet still tart beer. The one boozy selection that you need to stock up for this combo, per Tim Hanaseth, is a Hazy IPA. A Hazy IPA is a unique type of beer. It has a fruity, hoppy base with minimal bitter notes, which makes it a relatively pleasant one to sip on during the hot summer months. Some people also detect pineapple and citrusy notes from this beer, which plays into the tropical essence of the sorbet pairing.

This is yet another ice cream that you'd be better off opting for a sorbet version of, rather than the creamy mouthfeel of the ice cream. The sweet, slightly icy notes will hit your tastebud in between sips of cold beer. Is there anything more summery than that?

Sweet cream ice cream... isn't that just vanilla? Think of this ice cream flavor as the precursor to vanilla. The main factor that sets these two ice creams apart is that sweet cream ice cream doesn't necessarily have vanilla in it. As the name suggests, the sweetness from the cream is the predominant flavor note, coupled by the mouthfeel of other emulsifying ingredients like eggs. It's decadent, yet oh-so simple.

A simple ice cream deserves to be paired with a beer that has just a little more going on. That's why I recommend scooping it alongside a Hefeweizen. This German beer is incredibly malty and rich, which will play on the creaminess of this ice cream base quite well. It's also yeasty and complex, so pairing it with a more basic selection will allow you to decipher the notes of this beer more easily and will give you an opportunity to genuinely enjoy this pleasant sipping experience.

Chocolate ice cream is harder to pair with a brew than you'd think. It can stand up for itself, whereas other frozen dessert selections on this list are made to have the beer take center stage. Some folks will pair chocolate ice cream with orangey beers, like IPAs or Belgian Whites, but we think that the better option is pairing like-with-like. Stick your chocolate ice cream with a chocolate porter to max out on cacao-driven decadence.

Chocolate porter is deep and heavy, and it's a beer that's really an acquired taste. Both the malt and caramel background flavors mesh well with a range of chocolate ice creams — whether you're working with one that's heavy on the fudge or dark chocolates notes, or one that has a little less-dominant cacao flavor. Granted, there are some chocolate ice cream brands that are better than others, so I recommend sticking to a brand that you genuinely enjoy eating before you start pairing it with beer. Spencer White recommends the Black Butte Porter from the Deschutes Brewery for this duo. He explains that it has "rich, roasted flavors that can enhance the chocolatey goodness."

Rum raisin is one of those ice cream flavors that's associated with an older generation. But, you have to give this flavor credit where credit is due. It's studded with plump raisins, and should really leave no doubt that there is, in fact, rum in this ice cream. Spencer White's go-to pairing for this complex ice cream is either a Belgian Dubbel or a Quadrupel. The former has a medium bitterness with notes of cocoa, caramel, and brown sugar, while the latter has much more obvious caramel notes and a distinct bitterness. The esters in these beers channel the dried fruit notes, which is why they're great parings for figs, apricots, and, of course, raisins.

"These beers often have dark fruit and caramelized sugar notes that can complement the rum and raisin flavors," explains White. If you like a little more texture, and a little less booze, in your ice cream, swap your rum raisin out for a play on an oatmeal raisin cookie flavor.

Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream is one of my favorites. Although it's a seemingly youthful flavor, the buttery, brown sugar notes in the cookie dough really elevate the flavor of this frozen dessert beyond the kids' cone. For a really adult pairing, consider scooping this ice cream alongside a brown ale, per a recommendation from Spencer White. White's go-to suggestion for this is a honey brown. As its name suggests, you'll find profoundly sweet notes in this beer with undertones of caramel. It's not cloying, yet not floral, which makes it an approachable ale for all kinds of drinkers — including those who are also ice cream lovers.

Based on the description of this ale alone, you can probably see how the chocolate chip cookie dough could fit the bill. White notes that the beer's "malt-forward profile" will complement the buttery, softness of the cookie dough. The subtle chocolate bits will also make for a wholesome pairing that will leave you wondering why you've never tried it before.

Salted caramel ice cream is sophisticated and layered with complexity, yet it still retains an approachable quality. It's an ice cream that's rich and brimming with toffee notes, and that little bit of salty edge is really the icing on the cake (or the whipped cream on top of the sundae, depending on how you look at it). Since the frozen dessert so sweet, you need to find a beer that can hold up to the heaviness of this ice cream. Spencer White recommends using a brown ale or a Scotch ale for this pairing. Scotch ale is an approachable beverage; it leans heavy on the ABV (around 6%) but still has the deep buttery and sweet, hoppy notes that will leave you saying "mmmhmm," and pleasantly nodding after you take a sip.

"These beers often have caramel and toffee notes that can complement the sweet and salty flavors of salted caramel," White explains. And since some salted caramel ice cream brands tend to have tend to have a skewed proportion of caramel swirls to vanilla ice cream, we recommend keeping a squeeze bottle of the sauce handy — just in case.

I am a proud member of the indecisive ice cream club. If given the option, I will always opt to have two separate scoops of ice cream — but only after I've sampled as many as the person at the register lets me. If you fall into that club, too, you might as well get a quart of Neapolitan ice cream at the store. That way, you can have chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream at your fingertips. The most agreeable ice cream to pair with these three flavors, which you can indeed manage to get all of in a single bite, is a Baltic porter. According to Brian Durand from Asbury Park Brewing, "the roasted malt of the porter (caramel and toffee) go well with the direct sweetness and flavors in the Neapolitan."

The Baltic porter isn't for the faint of heart. It has a smooth mouthfeel, but a high ABV content. Though, the moderate bitterness makes this an approachable beverage for someone seeking strong, malty flavor in their beer.

If the pairing of orange ice cream and an orangey beer was too much, consider this flavorful alternative. The raspberry ice cream still has that tart sweetness to help elevate this beer, but it has more floral notes that will play well with the Belgian Wit. It's a crisp beer to drink, and one that has some herbal and hobby notes that really take it a step beyond being just a simple beer.

You can use either a raspberry sorbet or an ice cream for this pairing, as the white beer can hold up to the creaminess or the icy, isolated sweetness quite well. This combination would also be excellent for a delicious summertime dessert out on the porch. Besides pairing with just the raspberry, this is one combination that you may want to experiment using a multi-flavored sherbet with. You'll get the complementary notes of the orange, but also the floral notes of the raspberry and tartness of the lime.