Life isn't all beer and pretzels...it's pickles and whiskey, too. That’s right: there are snacks that don’t just pair well with beer, but are actually made with beer. And not just snacks: there’s also booze that’s made with beer, too. To celebrate National Beer Day (and eat our beer all year long in as many forms as humanly possible), here are 6 beery treats for hoppy snacking.
Beer & Caramel Pretzel Nuggets
Roni-Sue's has taken bar snacks to the next level with the perfect nibble for whatever beer you're chugging. They start with Martin's Pretzels (a local NYC Greenmarket fave), coat them in handmade beer caramel (made with suds from Brooklyn Brewery), and top these sticky nuggets with candied mustard seed. It's pretzel-beer-mustard all rolled into one – and it's beery delicious.
Hefeweizen Bread & Butter Pickles
Chips and beer are a natural pairing...so what about cukes and beer? These mild, sweet bread and butter pickle chips are pickled in wheaty hefeweizen from Drake’s Brewing Company in California – there's beer in the brine! – that pairs perfectly with the sweet vinegar and aromatic pickling spices. Pair these with a pint of your favorite hefeweizen...or whatever pickles your fancy.
Beer Barrel Bourbon
New Holland Artisan Spirits in Holland, MI makes both beer and whiskey – so it's only natural that they would combine their spirited talents into a single beer-inflected bottle. After aging their bourbon in white oak barrels for a time, they age their dark, malty stout in the same barrels... then put the bourbon back in those same barrels for another three months. It's a symbiotic hops-and-hooch relationship.
Pilsner Beer Flats Crackers
Crackers: they won’t fill you up and they’ll never let you down, especially when they’re made with pilsner, like these beer-based crunchies are. Adding beer to the buttery dough gives these Pilsner Beer Flats Crackers a malty flavor that’s strong enough to stand up to sharp cheeses and cured meats but mellow enough to eat on their own in a snack-mergency, or slathered with peanut butter or hummus, or topped with cream cheese and smoked salmon or...well, you get the idea.
Apple Stout Jam
This Apple Stout Jam is like a pub in a jar. Apples are simmered with onions in a rich mix of craft stout beer, cider vinegar, coffee, blackstrap molasses, currants and spices to create a jam that’s as thick, hoppy, sweet and slightly bitter as any good draught. Spread it on buttered toast for a truly comforting snack…or, better yet, on a grilled brat on a Kaiser roll. Don’t forget the pint of stout to complete the meal.
Pine Barrens Single Malt Whiskey
This single malt whiskey from Baiting Hollow, New York, starts its life as Blue Point Brewing Company's Old Howling Bastard – a big, rich, barley wine-style ale. Then the folks at nearby Long Island Spirits distill it, age it in small oak casks and bring it to proof with water from the aquifer flowing beneath the 100,000-acre Pine Barrens Forest Preserve. It takes 850 gallons of beer to make just 100 gallons of this whiskey, so you better believe those hops make a worthwhile difference: they add a rich flavor of pine to the classic single malt tones of toffee and vanilla, for a whiskey that’s delectab-ale.
And remember: snack responsibly.