Candy-Flavored Beer Adds New Twist To Craft Beer Rage

[The Straight Story]

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Craft beer sales rose 20 percent in 2013, according to the Brewers Association. With increased demand comes increased pressure for brewers to concoct new flavor combinations.

DuClaw, the Maryland based brewery, has been experimenting with candy-flavored combos. Owner Dave Benfield says the most popular is a peanut butter chocolate porter called “Sweet Baby Jesus.”

“The liquid itself delivers on the promise of chocolate and peanut butter. And it’s very drinkable,” he says. “It’s certainly not for the feint of heart. It’s not a beer that you’re going to have eight or nine of, but it delivers on the flavor without overwhelming the palate too much.”

Then there’s recently released “Dirty Little Freak.”

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2014/04/21/candy-flavored-beer-adds-new-twist-to-craft-beer-rage/

[Politicalboi]

1. Oh but what about the CHILDREN!!!!!!

Can't we somehow ruin this for beer drinkers like they did with E-Cigs, or flavor drops for cigs?

[The Straight Story]

2. Yeah, better get one now before we ban it and limit more choices

Cause some people seem to love being anti-choice....for the children of course.

[Initech]

16. We need to tackle the pit bull, public breast feeding and Olive Garden issues first!

[pinboy3niner]

20. Not before we solve the corn flake chicken crisis!

[Initech]

23. Corn Flake Chicken Crisis, by the way just added to Bonaroo.

[pinboy3niner]

25. I heard they're just ripping off Bread

[flashcloud]

28. Give it time.

[quinnox]

3. ...

[Owl]

13. I'll second that.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. 'feint of heart'? That man has been a reporter for 30 years

and he can't understand what 'faint of heart' means?

[pinboy3niner]

6. Apparently, journalism is just a diversion for him

[silverweb]

11. That got me, too.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Completely destroyed the article. Unbelievable.

[tularetom]

5. I like beer as much as the next guy and I don't want to stifle any brewer's creativity

But candy flavored beer isn't even remotely appealing to me.

Maybe there's too much competition in the craft brewing bidness.

[The Straight Story]

7. Maybe they could sell beer flavored candy to go with it :) (nt)

[pinboy3niner]

9. They could call it Beer Bellies

From the makers of Jelly Bellies.

[The Straight Story]

10. And since it would be a candy they could make a beer that tastes like beer bellies

[Warpy]

8. They've been doing peppermint and chocolate beers in Japan

for some time. I don't know how popular these things will be with anybody but the kiddie crowd and younger 20 somethings, but hey, knock yourself out, DuClaw.

They'll work as long as they leave out the hops to give other flavors a fighting chance.

[jmowreader]

19. Which will reduce the shelf life to approximately that of milk

Hops are used as a preservative. People like the flavor they impart, but preserving the beer is why they were originally used.

[Warpy]

21. They're classified as a narcotic

and that is why they were used, to give a little extra punch to the beer.

You can eat a pound of hops (roughly a large paper bag full) and not get a buzz. However, they apparently didn't know that when they came up with a recipe.

Alcohol is the preservative, especially in homebrew beer like I used to make. I made sure the stuff was at the upper limit beyond which the alcohol would kill the yeast and you couldn't carbonate the beer without a CO2 charger.

[jmowreader]

24. No, they're classified as a preservative

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hops

Hops are the female flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant, Humulus lupulus.[1] They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, to which they impart a bitter, tangy flavor, though hops are also used for various purposes in other beverages and herbal medicine.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/101/hops/

Humulus Lupulus (hops) are the flowering cone of a perennial vining plant and a cousin of the cannabis variety (sorry no THC in this stuff) that typically thrives in climates similar to the ones that grapes do. Hop plants are dioecious, meaning the males and females flower on separate plants -- and the female cones are used in the brewing process. Hops are the age old seasoning of the beer, the liquid gargoyles who ward-off spoilage from wild bacteria and bringers of balance to sweet malts. They also lend a hand in head retention, help to clear beer (acting as a natural filter) and please the palate by imparting their unique characters and flavours. Basically, hops put the "bitter" in beer.

http://www.thekitchn.com/beer-guide-what-are-hops-81267

Hops contain an essential oil with a very bitter flavor. This bitterness counters the sweetness from the malt to create a more balanced beer, and it also acts as a preservative. Beer makers can play with the ratio of sweet maltiness to bitterness in the final beer by adjusting the type of hops used in the brewing, when they're added to the wort, and how long they're boiled.

There's not enough alcohol in any beer to act as a preservative.

[pinboy3niner]

26. I always thought the preservative classification...

...meant their effect on the drinker. But maybe that was just wishful thinking.

[jmowreader]

27. Uh-uh. There's an oil in the hop buds that keeps the beer from spoiling.

And "bud" is a good description, since the closest-related plant to the hop is marijuana.

[dembotoz]

12. the market will decide if it is a good idea or bad

i do not see myself buying it
but then again not much is aimed at 60yr old white guys except for fox news and i do not buy that either

[madinmaryland]

14. Sounds NASTY. A good craft "micro" brew does not need shit like that in it.

[Initech]

15. I'll try it!

[pinboy3niner]

17. "Hey, I know--let's get Mikey...um, I mean Initech...to try it!"

[Initech]

18. Well I will drink pretty much anything!

[pinboy3niner]

22. That's why we sacrifice...um, I mean honor...yeah, that's it, honor...you by letting you go first!

[longship]

29. Obviously this is a new definitition of "very drinkable" that people are unaware of.

Candy flavor beer is just a very bad idea. Who in the Sam Hell are they going to market it to? Toddlers? Because no self-respecting adult beer drinker is going to even admit that they like it, even if they did, which is extremely doubtful.

This is just a really, really bad idea.

What's next? Sushi lolly pops?