This feature was produced in collaboration between Vox Creative and Goose Island. Vox Media editorial staff was not involved in the creation or production of this content.

A highlight of the Goose Island Beer Co. visit to Charleston for Migration Week earlier this month was the Chef Meets Brewer dinner at The Macintosh, chef Jeremiah Bacon's hot and happening farm-to-table restaurant. One particularly pleasing food-and-beer pairing came when Goose Island Honkers Ale was matched with chef Bacon's savory dessert course, a tarte flambée with fromage blanc, caramelized onions, and lardons.

"Honkers Ale has a smooth finish that lent itself to the creaminess of the fromage blanc," said Goose Island's Jesse Valenciana. "The crispy bacon lardons did their part in contrasting that creaminess, while the light, crisp effervescence in Honkers Ale did the same to the mouthfeel of the beer."

He continued: ‘The saltiness in the lardons was offset by the sweetness from the caramelized onions and the slight tartness from the apples, while in Honkers Ale, the underlying bitterness from the hops are balanced by the rich, sweet malts in the beer. In the end, Honkers Ale's simple complexity really brought out parallels in the flavor profile of the tarte flambée."

It's not a bad way to end a meal.