If you’re not familiar, Brewhouse Legends come to us from Mount Franklin Foods and these new snack mixes are inspired by craft brewing AND made to be paired with craft beer. The flavors include Hops & Pepper, Hoppin' Chili, and Michelada and in the name of science, we’ll be pairing each one up with a beer…so off we go.
Naturally I gravitated toward the Hops And Pepper Snack Nut Mix first. All three snack mixes are packaged in handy 5oz bags with a re-sealable zip lock as well as 1oz snack size. This mix features peanuts, pretzels, sesame sticks and some light and airy rice crackers; and the overall flavoring is really interesting. Brewhouse Legends has infused a hop flavor into the mix and even without looking for it, I found that subtle hop flavor to be really intriguing. That hop flavor plays nicely with the peppery seasoning and the overall mix of flavors made me want to finish the entire bag. The mix has just enough salty and savory flavors (the rice crackers have a really nice soy sauce flavor) to make you a bit thirsty so I paired this mix with Bell’s Brewery Two Hearted IPA. The floral hops in the beer nicely balance out the hop presence in the nut mix and the drinkability of Two Hearted really complimented the nutty and crunchy snack mix nicely. I suspect this will be my favorite of the three mixes, but lets try out the 2nd mix.
Up next we tried the Hoppin’ Chili Snack Nut Mix. This blend features peanuts, honey sesame chips, chick peas and corn nuts with a spicy chili pepper coating. This mix brings the heat, but even for a spicy food-wimp like me, it was a a very edible and enjoyable heat. There’s a fun balance of spicy and sweet going on here and the peanuts and corn nuts really make the overall package a bit addictive. I paired this nut mix with Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and I think it really worked well. The resinous hops in SN Pale Ale evened out the spicy nut mix and the drinkability of this beer worked well with the mouthfeel of the nut mix. Overall this was another nut mix that I enjoyed enough to almost finish the bag.
Finally we opened the Michelada Snack Nut Mix and I brought in my stunt-taster to try this one out. This mix features Worcestershire sauce which can contain sardines, so as a vegetarian I wasn’t able to try it. This mix has rice crackers, corn nuts, hot Cajun sticks, peanuts and even praline pepitas along with a tangy tomato flavor. My stunt double thought this mix was his favorite of the three. He liked the salty, savory and sweet mix along with the punch of Cajun spices. He thought it not only had the characteristics of a Michelada beer cocktail but also a bit of Bloody Mary cocktail as well. He chose to pair this blend with a Tröegs Sunshine Pils and he felt the hoppy lager worked well with the tangy and savory mix and the light bodied beer really made the nut mix stand out.
A big thank you to everyone at Brewhouse Legends for sending us some snacks as well as some cool beer swag. Brewhouse Legends Pub-Inspired Snack Nut Mixes are available now on their website as well as on Amazon in convenient 6-packs. We really enjoyed not only tasting these nut mixes, but also pairing them up with some very complimentary beers. I can honestly say the generous 5oz bags didn’t last very long in our hands and I suspect they’ll go just as fast in yours. As always, when you do try these nut mixes, be sure to let us know what YOU think.
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