Everything is better with bacon, right? Even beer?
Leave it to that reliable breakfast destination Waffle House to test that theory. The Atlanta-headquartered restaurant chain has teamed with Oconee Brewing Company to concoct a new bacon-infused beer that delivers an aroma of breakfast meat.
The aptly and humorously titled Bacon & Kegs beer, a 6.5% ABV red ale, has a malty character enhanced with “salty, savory, and smokey bacon extract,” the Greensboro, Georgia-based brewery says. “Bacon & Kegs pairs well with breakfast food items (obviously!) or can be enjoyed as a stand-alone, soon to be iconic beer.”
Oconee Brewing reached out to Waffle House’s headquarters in Atlanta, less than 100 miles to the west, about teaming up on a beer. “This story began in January with someone with Waffle House being kind enough to respond to an email that I sent proposing a collaboration,” Oconee’s media director Leslie Tillery said in an interview with Food & Wine.
The brewery met with some Waffle House executives in Atlanta but the coronavirus pandemic delayed subsequent tastings for a while. Eventually, “our two groups held a taste test at Oconee Brewing Company,” Tillery said, “and chose a bacon-infused red ale to release as the first ever Waffle House beer!”
While this may be the first Beer/Bacon collaboration, it technically won’t be the first breakfast-themed beer. Dunkin’ and Harpoon Brewery have collaborated on several beers including a Dunkin’ Coffee, Porter Dunkin’ Pumpkin, Dunkin’ Boston Kreme Stout and Dunkin’ Jelly Donut IPA, which can be purchased in a Dunkin’ Dozen Mix Pack of 12-ounce cans.
Initially, Bacon & Kegs will be sold in six packs or on draft at Oconee Brewing Company beginning December 18. The collaboration beer could get a wider release, but not necessarily at Waffle House itself. So far, only the Waffle House at SunTrust Park, home of the Atlanta Braves, actually sells beer.
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Photo Credit: Lukasz Engel / Shutterstock.com
