Pizza and beer is the ultimate combination to fuel hungry students before a memorable night out.

What many fail to consider is how much better the pairing is when it is the perfect match. A bad mix can take your taste buds aback, resulting in a waste of perfectly good pizza and beer.

Instead of taking a risk that won’t leave you satisfied, give these pie and brew mixes a try.

For starters, hefeweizens, which are unfiltered wheat beers, and fruit ciders go great with sweeter and simpler pizza.

The classic Hawaiian pizza is a great choice to pair with a favorite wheat or fruitier beer. The sweetness of the pineapple and saltiness of the ham accentuate the hints of citrus and floral aroma most hefeweizens and ciders contain.

Try Samuel Adams’ Cherry Wheat or Pyramid’s Audacious Apricot Ale to bring out the flavors of a lighter, sweeter pizza.

Ciders and hefeweizens also pair great with margherita, cheese and vegetarian pizzas.

Try to avoid pairing sweeter toppings with darker ales as the toppings tend to turn the rich, smooth flavors of a favorite dark beer bitter.

When indulging in pizza with spicier toppings, it is wise to accompany it with an India Pale Ale, which only uses a single hop.

The extra infusion of hops in IPAs bring on a burst of flavor with the first sip, but quickly extinguishes the heat from the peppers and leaves a pleasant, crisp taste to wash down the savory ingredients.

Sierra Nevada’s Torpedo and Racer 5 IPA are both great options to intensify the heat for even the spiciest ingredients.

It is wise to stay away from pilsners and light beers when eating spicy toppings as the flavors of lighter ales tend to be drowned out by the heat of the peppers.

If you’re a meat lover, try pairing heavier toppings with a darker beer that can stand up to the stronger flavor.

The rich, smooth flavor of a porter or brown ale pair well with meats such as sausage, ground beef and bacon.

To complement these heavier, savory toppings, grab a Guinness or Newcastle Brown Ale.

The barley in both beers accents the strong flavors nicely.

Hefty meats and sauces tend to overwhelm the delicate flavor of lighter beers and can leave an unpleasant fatty after- taste that can ruin the taste of a lager or ale.

For a traditional favorite such as pepperoni, a brew equally as classic as the iconic slice itself is recommended.

Go with lighter beers such as Stella Artois and Kona Longboard Lager, which are good choices that complement the classic topping without overpowering it. Anything stronger will just drown out the flavor of the pepperoni.

For something more exotic, try grabbing a Sapporo or Tsingtao to add an international twist to this Neapolitan classic.

With these mixes, the traditional and delicious combination of beer and pizza can only be enhanced.

Sean Keister can be reached at [email protected] and Miguel Razo can be reached at [email protected]