Just a few weeks into the job, Brisbane’s Jubilee Hotel’s new executive chef Gary Keenan is busy working on a revamped menu. The heritage-listed 19th century pub has been given its own contemporary makeover and now Keenan’s ready to take the classic pub menu up a notch. “We’re working on trying to bring back more shared dining,” Keenan says. “Whole lamb shoulders, roasted sirloin carved down at the table, bringing that interaction to the client again.”

The art of beer and food matching

With the launch of Great Northern’s new Long Run premium crisp lager – an easy-drinker with a touch of citrus and tropical aromas, plus a light sweetness from Australian barley – Keenan and the team are leaning into the idea of elevating both beer and food with some thoughtful pairings. Beer tends to play second fiddle to wine when it comes to food matching but it really shouldn’t be the case, particularly for those looking to enjoy the flavours rather than overthink it.

“We have an unpretentious approach to food and drink pairing,” Keenan says. “We’ve seen and heard of all the food and wine matching, but I wanted to let beer have its foodie moment. Ditch the big, heavy red and let a rich, clean, crisp lager be the hero for once.”

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Whether it’s Long Run or any other easygoing style, matching pub food and beer is a winner. You’re unlikely to go wrong with most choices, but Keenan has a few pairings from the Jubilee menu to get the ideas flowing.

Pizza

Reinvent the wheel if you like, but the slight chew of the dough plus salty toppings – cheese and pepperoni is a good place to start – makes pub-style pizza an easy go-to match. The version at Jubilee will be hand-stretched, too. “Pizza and beer is a classic match – you can’t be disappointed,” Keenan says.

Sausage roll

“Pork and chorizo sausage roll with a Long Run lager is a perfect pairing – the sweet and the spicy,” says Keenan. Beer tends to work well playing off the bready flavours of dough or pastry (it’s one of the reasons why pizza lines up so well, too) and here it gets dialled up with a savoury, piquant pork and chorizo filling in a house specialty sausage roll.

Arancini

Salty fried snacks, maybe with a little truffle aioli on the side, just beg for a fresh beer pairing and this is one example that takes the concept up a rung. Keenan’s version has mushrooms and provolone, and he reckons it’s a beer-friendly flavour profile and combination. “It’s the umami from the mushrooms with the richness of the cheese and the crunchiness of the crumbs with a nice crisp lager,” he says.

Queensland sirloin

The beer and beef combo is a pub staple but Keenan has his own take on the classic, which he’ll be serving up at the Jubilee Hotel. “We’re using a Bachelor 150-day grain-fed, MB 2+ beef,” says Keenan. “We’re going to serve a 250-gram Bachelor English sirloin with a creamed celeriac puree, roasted heirloom carrots, blackened onions and bone marrow compound butter.”

For those heading down to the Jubilee to try Keenan’s quintessentially Queensland food and beer double act, he says there’s no real trick to enjoying the pairing: just alternate and enjoy.

“A nice, crisp, clean lager in between each mouthful will help accentuate the dish as well as the beer,” he says. “Each time you have some beer you’re tasting the beer for the first time and you’re retrying the foods, so you don’t get bored.”

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Long Run by Great Northern Brewing Co. Long Run is a premium new beer inspired by Queensland’s outback, and brewed to bring people together.