3 glasses. Two have some beer in them, the third is empty. The glasses are in a wooden board which reads 'York Distillery', and it's part of a beer and crisp tasting experience.

Trying A Beer And Crisp Tasting Experience

6th November 2025 - New Experience Number 22.

Jump to 'Try it yourself'

Have you ever heard of a beer and crisp tasting? I hadn’t—until now. If wine lovers seem to have monopolised the pairing world, it turns out beer drinkers have quietly been creating their own events.

To clarify for any non UK readers, you might be more familiar with the crisps I’m referring to as potato chips.

Here’s what it was like when we went to our first ever beer and crisp tasting event, and tips and recommendations so that you can try it too!

Beer and crisp tasting doesn’t really play to the “challenge” part of Challenge Fifty-Two, but it was something I had never done before – so it absolutely counted towards one of my 52 new things in the year!

I'd Never Heard Of A Beer And Crisp Tasting Experience Before

Wine and cheese tasting events are nothing new and I’d been to a few before. But I’d never heard of a beer and crisp tasting before. I’d never really thought about it, but actually, what a brilliant idea!

Not everyone likes wine, so why not offer something similar for the beer lovers?

It’s not very often that the Other Half joins me when I try something new, but I knew that he’d enjoy this. Booking tickets for us both, it turned out to be a brilliant evening.

Looking down at 3 glasses, each with a different type of beer in it. The glasses are standing on a wooden board that has the York Distillery logo on it. There are 3 bowls of crisps in the background.
A brilliant idea to pair beer with crisps

It's Not A New Combination

I don’t know about you, but I regularly enjoy a salty snack with a beer. However,  it’s pretty much always salt and vinegar or ready salted flavour. Not very adventurous, I know.

It turns out I’ve been missing out on some fantastic flavour combinations!

Hosted At York Distillery

The event was held at York Distillery, a recently opened boutique working distillery in the centre of the city. 

It’s a lovely, inviting space where they offer gin and spirit-making experiences, along with a variety of tasting events.

During the evening we tasted some very different beers, learnt about their ingredients and what makes them all so unique, and tried perfectly paired crisps. Who knew the humble crisp could make such a difference?

An exterior picture looking along a paved courtyard. A sign hanging above reads 'York Gin, York Distillery'
York Distillery in the centre of the city.

An Exceptional Host For Our Beer And Crisp Tasting Event

Our host for the evening was brilliant. Not just a beer lover, Emma has actually studied the stuff with WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust,) so we were in very capable hands.

Sharing a clear passion for flavours and local breweries, she effortlessly blended the science and nature of beer production, with the fun of the tasting.

Teaching us about colours, ingredients, aroma and taste, Emma took us on a journey through a glorious selection of light, dark and wild beers, and introduced us to some unusual crisp combinations.

Emma is definitely worth following on instagram. Sharing wonderful recommendations, she can be found as both @thebeerlady and @thewinelady

Three cans of Northern beers on a wooden bench. There is a pilsner and a stout.
Sampling beers from local breweries.

The Tastings

We tried a selection of 10 different Northern beers. From hoppy IPAs to crisp and refreshing lagers, to hearty stouts. Each was accompanied by a different crisp snack.

Resisting the temptation to dive straight in to the beer when it was poured, we were encouraged to hold it up to the light and firstly notice how it looked. The colour and the way it sits in the glass can tell you a lot before you even take a sip

Still somehow resisting temptation, we were invited to smell the beer. With noses over glasses we inhaled deeply, trying to identify any distinguishing ingredients. There were some mouth-watering aromas, but my ability to recognise exact flavours wasn’t my strong point

And then there was the tasting. Having analysed the beers with our other senses, it made the first sip even more pleasing on the palate, as we sampled some deliciously different drinks.

Challenge Fifty-Two, a white woman with dark hair. She is holding a glass of beer up to the light and looking at the glass as she is at a beer and crisp tasting experience.
Analysing the beer before tasting it
Three glasses, each containing a different beer, one is dark, one is light and one is in-between. They are on a wooden flight with 'York Distillery' written on it.
Sampling a good selection

Beer And Crisp Tasting Highlights

Each beer was paired with a different salty snack. From pretzels to corn snacks to traditional crisps with a satisfying crunch.

My highlights were ham flavoured crisps with a pilsner –  the deep flavour of the savoury snack worked so well with the crispness of the beer. 

Another standout was a plum porter served with chocolate and cinnamon tortilla rolls from M&S. This felt like a perfect pairing for a dark and cosy night.

Pickled Onion monster munch with a sour beer didn’t work for me, but I’m not sure it’s a crisp flavour that would work with many beers!

Close up of a packet of Pickled onion flavour monster munch and a glass with some beer in it. Part of a beer and crisp tasting experience.
Pickled onion wasn't my favourite flavour for a pairing!
Looking down at 3 glass bowls on a wooden bench. Each bowl contains a different type of crisp; pretzels; wotsits; and doritos. Some of the snacks seen at a beer and crisp tasting experience
Different salty snacks worked well with different beers

A Fantastic Event

To find out how much we’d paid attention, and to help us learn a few additional fun facts, Emma gave us a quiz.

We were pretty rubbish, but we did discover who first brewed beer, which country drinks the most beer, and many more beer-illiant facts.

With a generous pour of every beer, ample crisps to go with each drink, and a good dose of fun and information, this had been a fabulous evening.

Topped off with a host full of enthusiasm, keen to share her passion and the wonderful pairings she’d discovered, I can highly recommend booking on to the beer and crisp tasting experience.

Challenge Fifty-Two, a white woman with dark hair. She is smiling at the camera with 3 glasses of different drinks in front of her as she is at a beer and crisp tasting experience.
A brilliant event, I can highly recommend it!

New Experiences Don’t Have To Be Extreme

One of the things I love about the challenge of trying new things is that doing something new doesn’t have to be extreme.

Sometimes it’s just looking at something familiar in a completely different way, and being open to exploring things right under our noses. 

You never know what wonderful things you might discover.

Want To Try It Yourself?

  • For the same experience that we tried, visit the York Distillery website and take a look at their upcoming events. 
  • Follow Emma on Instagram where she shares dates of upcoming events (and some excellent recommendations too!). 
  • Have a look on eventbrite and search online to see if there are any beer and crisp tasting events near you. 

Click here to find out about the gin tasting experience with York Gin

Cost Of Experience

  • We paid £35 each in November 2025, which included really good sample sizes of the drinks and the crisps, an expert sharing their knowledge, a fun quiz and a great atmosphere. 

Recommendations

  • Keep an open mind. If you don’t usually drink a particular type of beer, this is a great opportunity to try it.
  • Don’t drink and drive. You’ll be sampling alcohol so let someone else do the driving if it’s too far to walk to the event.
  • Take notes. You’ll be sampling an array of different drinks and snacks so why not open up the notes on your phone and keep track of any you want to try again.
  • Have fun! Let me know how you get on if you try a beer and crisp tasting experience, and don’t forget to take some photos!

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