I’m taking a break from posting about writing and writing and yet more writing… to fold you into the creme fraiche of my other true love. Beer.

I found a wine pairings chart on Facebook that paired wines with Halloween candy. Fair enough… but I felt it worth the attempt to do the same thing with the world beer styles that are available. And thus, here are my Craft Beer Halloween Candy Pairings with beer recommendations:

Prost!

Nerds –> Straight or Fruit Lambic (blend of sweet & sour on both sides) [Lindeman’s Framboise]

Sour Patch –> American Wheat (sourness of candy will accentuate the natural wheat “twang” and bolster the beer’s mid-sip) [Bell’s Oberon]

Starburst –> American IPA (citrus notes from american hops such as Cascade and Centennial compliment candy, and bitterness brings down sweet intensity) [New Belgium’s Ranger IPA]

Skittles –> Saison (fruity yeast esters and farmhouse sour notes compliment well) [Ommegang Hennepin]

Candy corn –> Cream Ale (light corn notes in ale add to sweet palate) [Genesee Cream Ale]

Mounds –> Brown Porter (coconut melds with light roast and chocolate notes, often a fine specialty adjunct for porters) [Founder’s Porter]

Kit Kat –> Oktoberfest/Marzen (Cookie in the Kit Kats bring up the cookie pils and Munich malts showcased in a Marzen) [Sam Adams Octoberfest]

Tootsie Roll –> American Brown Ale (need the hoppy bitterness in an ABA to tone down the sweet Tootsie, while adding complimentary roast notes) [Big Sky Moose Drool]

Butterfinger –> English Brown Ale (buttery diacetyl notes allowed in English ale styles punch up the butterscotch in the candy) [Sam Smith’s Nut Brown Ale]

Twix –> Scottish 80/- (the notable caramel presence in an Eighty Shilling match with the cookie and caramel bars) [Belhaven St. Andrew’s Ale]

Snickers –> Schwarzbier (dry and clean lager cuts through the gummy sweet caramel and nougat) [Köstritzer Schwarzbier]

Reeses –> Dry Stout (deep roast balances the sweet peanut butter, while dry finish clears the sweetness) [Beamish Irish Stout]

Heath –> Dunkelweizen (toffee melds with the caramel/toffee malts, while clove phenols slice through sweet palate in finish) [Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse Dunkel] <— I’m not kidding, find and drink this beer!

M&Ms –> Belgian Dubbel (otherwise boring piece-meal chocolate candies find a malty, estery bomb of Belgian brilliance in a Dubbel) [Trappist Westvleteren 8 (VIII), or Allagash Dubbel)

Hershey –> Rauchbier (a nice smoky beer to balance the sugar-sweet and grainy Hershey chocolate) Barnhouse Brewery makes the the best rauchbier in America… if you happen to be in Loudoun County VA, grab some… otherwise default to Schlenkerla if you can find it)