Now Beer This: No Tricks, All Treats – Halloween Candy & Beer

Halloween Candy and Beer!

You might have access to A LOT of Halloween candy come November 1, and somebody’s got to do something about it. So why not try some candy and beer pairing experiments?

There are WAY too many candy varieties out there to make for a concise article, and I’m old enough that the only candy I remember is the sweet flavor of the Not-Beatings I graciously got when my behavior was acceptable — but I’ll do my best to give you some suggestions of some common favorites and some readily available beer styles.

First, a note on the concept of beer pairings — you should be thinking about three things when doing food/beer pairings:

1) Harmony

2) Contrast

3) Intensity

The key to a successful pairing is to match up like-to-like flavors, toss in some contrasting flavors that bring out the best in each other, and to carefully gauge the intensity of each flavor participant. There’s a million books on this stuff, and you can make the process and idea as complicated as you want, but it all boils down to those three things.

The fun part about pairings is that you don’t actually know how it’s going to work out until you try, so enjoy the failures that you’ll find on the way to some smashing taste successes – and keep your mind open for that transcendent pairing you’ll occasionally make! I can guarantee that through wild experimentation, you’ll eventually hit a combination that you’ll remember forever.

So, Halloween candy and beer! Let’s get to it!

 

REESE’S PEANUT BUTTER CUPS

Look, with any candy involving chocolate the obvious pairing is a stout or porter. Sure. Do that, and let me know how your coach-pitch game goes tomorrow, junior. I’m thinking a little outside the box here… so, why not try an Abbey Dubbel? Let’s get a little dangerous.

Here’s what I think: Both of these are pretty intense offerings — peanut butter that’s mainlining sugar AND covered in chocolate, paired with a beer that’s high in alcohol and boasting tons of unfermentable and yeast that throws out bananas, cloves, bubblegum, and all kinds of other flavors. We’re sure checking that “intensity” box when it comes to flavor pairing!

I think we’ll get a little harmony with the sugar-on-sugar action, and some interesting contrasts from the creamy peanut butter along with the high carbonation of this beer style helping to aerate and carry some of the flavor everywhere on the tongue. Do it, and let’s see how it all works out. Remember: experimentation is your friend!

 

SKITTLES

Who in their right mind would drink beer and eat Skittles? An adventurous beer connoisseur, sir.

You don’t have a soft ball like stout on chocolate with this one, so it’s a challenge. I think a Belgian Golden would work here. You’ll get a little contrast with the clean, crisp malt flavor of the Golden working as a canvas for the myriad of fruit flavors. Think of this beer as the cracker and the Skittles as the cheese. You’ll also likely have a ton of fun messing with individual Skittles melding with the crazy esthers produced by the Belgian yeast. What will the grape one be like? Strawberry? I don’t know if there’s a banana Skittle, but if there is — I guarantee it will work. Maybe you could find some of those little banana Runts candies lying around, somewhere?

 

WHOPPERS, MILKDUDS and MILKYWAYS

These candies are not the same thing. I am aware of this. But I had all three in my list of common candy leftovers, and their flavor profiles are pretty darn similar. Chocolate, caramel, malt. Little known fact: Malted milk balls (Whopp ers are) came about originally using reduced malt sugar — which is like concentrated beer ingredients. So looky there! We have a common ingredient, so we have automatic harmony. Anyway, I’m going to take advantage of the free pass here and suggest a stout. It’s a natural fit for the chocolate, a bitter pairing for the caramel and a guaranteed hit for the malt. It’s way too easy not to hit the stout, here. Plus, you can play around with it a little bit, not unlike the Skittles: try the beer with each, with combinations, see what works! With any creamy food, carbonation makes a great contrast, so enjoy that bit, too. Again, this is kind of a softball, but do it. It’ll taste great.

 

TWIX

I make no guarantees here, but I want to try a Red IPA with these guys. The things that make Twix great are the cookies and the caramel. With a Red IPA, you have a biscuit-y malt base with the addition of sweeter, caramel-y malt accents — so on paper this one seems very plausible. I think the hoppyness will counter the sweetness of the chocolate and caramel, too. While this one doesn’t seem like an obvious choice, I have high hopes for it. Three cheers for experimentation!

 

Bonus options: I don’t have the space to wax poetic about other ideas I have, but I’m going to suggest some specific beers and candy pairings and send you out with some homework… so get busy:

Snickers with Old Engine Oil by Harviestoun, M&Ms with Black Boss Porter, and Reese’s with River Rat Hazelnut Brown.

I think you’ll love these, so let me know what you think. If you find some pairings I’m gonna have to try, let me know about ‘em!

Cheers! And go getchoo some!