Alces started small. It was the first beer out of our pilot program, and after the first batch, we knew we did not want to keep it small. We liked this Session IPA enough to put it in cans and share it beyond the pilot system.
At 4.4% ABV, Alces keeps the easy-drinking spirit of a Session IPA while bringing plenty of flavor and body. Australian Galaxy and Vic Secret hops push pineapple, passionfruit, and guava to the front, giving us a tropical beer that can handle more than one kind of plate. So, naturally, we started thinking about dinner.
For this IPA food pairing guide, we are using our current Portland menu as the starting point. The supplied Toast menu includes shares, salads, bowls, handhelds, and a wide range of craft pizzas. Check the menu at your nearest Brickyard Hollow before planning around one specific dish.
Meet Alces: Our 4.4% Session IPA with Australian Hops
Alces gets its personality from two Australian hop varieties: Galaxy and Vic Secret. Galaxy brings big passionfruit, peach, and citrus character, while Vic Secret is known for pineapple and pine. In Alces, that Southern Hemisphere combination comes through as pineapple, passionfruit, and guava.
The result is a Session IPA that tastes bigger than its 4.4% ABV might suggest. That balance was exactly what made the first pilot batch stand out to us. It had enough tropical hop character and body to feel complete, but it stayed easy enough to pair with a full meal instead of demanding all the attention.
And the name? We kept that part close to home. Maine’s state animal is the moose, or Alces alces. A moose can look pretty calm from a distance, but anyone from Maine knows it can pack a wallop up close. That felt about right for a lower-ABV beer with this much flavor.
You can explore more of what we are brewing on our beer page. Brickyard’s current beer content already leans heavily into matching different styles with food, so Alces gives us a new flavor profile to play with.
How IPA Food Pairing Works with Alces
IPA food pairing does not need to be complicated. With Alces, we start with the flavors already in the glass. Pineapple, passionfruit, and guava give us natural bridges to sweet, spicy, salty, tangy, and even fruity dishes. The hop character also has enough presence to stay noticeable beside richer foods.
That makes Alces especially fun with dishes that have contrast built in. Sweet heat, pickled vegetables, creamy cheese, fried food, savory pork, and bright fruit all give the beer something different to play against.
Because this is a Session IPA, we also like it for a longer meal. You can start with a share, move into pizza or a handheld, and still have a beer that feels comfortable at the table. That is the kind of beer and food pairing we enjoy most: easy to understand, but different enough from bite to bite to stay interesting.
Our Favorite Alces Pizza Pairings
Capicola Hot Honey: The Easy First Choice 
If you only try one Alces pairing, start here. Our Capicola Hot Honey pizza brings spicy capicola, pineapple, and hot honey together on an olive oil base. The pineapple gives the beer an immediate flavor connection, while the capicola and hot honey bring salty, spicy, and sweet notes into the same bite.
Alces meets that combination with its own tropical fruit instead of trying to overpower it. The passionfruit and guava add another layer to the pineapple, while the hop character keeps the pairing lively through the richer meat and honey. This is the pairing we would hand to someone who wants to understand Alces in one glass and one slice.
Pesto Feta Veggie: Fresh, Salty, and Herbal
For a vegetarian pairing, the Pesto Feta Veggie is an easy recommendation. Spinach, mushrooms, red onions, bell peppers, and feta sit on a basil pesto base, giving you plenty of savory and herbal flavor without the weight of a meat-heavy pie.
Alces brings a bright tropical contrast. The fruitier side of the beer plays against salty feta and basil, while the mushrooms give the pairing enough savory depth to keep it grounded. It is a good example of why IPA food pairing does not have to mean “IPA plus spicy meat.”
Maine Blueberry: Our Wild-Card Pairing
Maine blueberries, lemon ricotta, and shallots on an olive oil base already make the Maine Blueberry pizza one of the more unusual choices on our menu. Add Alces, and the fruit gets even more interesting.
Blueberry does not mirror the beer’s tropical profile, which is exactly why we like the combination. Pineapple, passionfruit, and guava sit beside blueberry instead of disappearing into it, while lemon ricotta adds a creamy, tangy bridge between the fruit and the hops. If you like trying pairings you probably would not invent at home, start here.
Beyond Pizza: Shares and Handhelds for Alces
Crispy Brussel Sprouts: Sweet Heat in a Smaller Bite
Our Crispy Brussel Sprouts are flash-fried, tossed in sweet Thai chili sauce, and finished with sesame seeds. That sweet-spicy glaze is a natural partner for Alces. The beer’s tropical fruit leans into the sweetness, while the hop character keeps the combination from feeling flat.
This is also an easy way to test the pairing before committing to an entrée. Order a plate for the table, pour an Alces, and see where the pineapple and passionfruit show up between bites.
Flaming Arrow: For the Heat Seekers
The Flaming Arrow stacks Buffalo fried chicken with coleslaw, ranch, jalapeños, and onion crisps on a toasted bun. There is heat, crunch, richness, and cooling ranch all happening at once.
Alces has enough fruit to stay present beside the Buffalo and jalapeño without turning the whole meal into a battle for attention. We especially like the way the tropical notes play against the savory fried chicken and bright toppings. At 4.4%, it also keeps this big sandwich pairing from feeling quite so heavy.
Bahn Mi: Savory, Pickled, Spicy, Tropical
Our Bahn Mi combines Korean BBQ pork belly, pickled vegetables, cucumber, jalapeño, cilantro, and sriracha aioli on a hoagie roll. It may be the most layered pairing in this guide.
The pork belly brings richness. Pickled vegetables and cucumber bring brightness. Jalapeño and sriracha bring heat. Cilantro adds a fresh herbal note. Alces threads through all of it with tropical fruit and hop flavor, giving you a new combination from one bite to the next. If Capicola Hot Honey is our easiest recommendation, the Bahn Mi may be the most fun to explore.
Build Your Own Beer and Food Pairing with Alces
You do not have to stop with our favorites. If you want to build your own beer and food pairing, look for a few simple cues on the menu.
Foods with pineapple, fruit, sweet chili, or hot honey can echo Alces directly. Spicy dishes create a louder, more energetic pairing. Pickled vegetables, tangy sauces, and fresh herbs push against the beer’s tropical side and create contrast. Rich fried foods or creamy cheeses give the hops more weight to work against.
That opens up plenty of other possibilities on the menu, from sweet Thai chili wings to the Sweet Teriyaki Bowl. The current Portland menu builds that bowl with white rice and greens, fried tofu, bell peppers, mushrooms, crispy Brussels sprouts, house teriyaki, and pea sprouts. That gives Alces another sweet-savory combination to work with.
There is no single “correct” pairing here. Start with the flavor you already like, take a sip, take a bite, and see what changes.
Try Alces with Your Next Brickyard Hollow Meal
The first batch of Alces came out of our pilot program. The fact that we put it in cans tells you how that experiment went.
Galaxy and Vic Secret gave us the tropical profile we wanted, 4.4% ABV kept it firmly in Session IPA territory, and the finished beer gave us plenty of reasons to start matching it against the food coming out of our kitchens.
Start with Capicola Hot Honey if you want the clearest pairing. Go for Maine Blueberry if you want something less obvious. Grab the Flaming Arrow or Bahn Mi if you want more heat and contrast. Or build your own pairing and tell us what we missed.
Please check our beer list, and find your nearest Brickyard Hollow through Locations & Menus. If you want even more ideas for your next visit. Brickyard’s current locations page lists nine Maine locations, while the earlier pairing guide gives us an established home for this kind of beer-and-menu conversation.