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The Culture of Beer:

Chips and Beer, Together At Last

Taking some whack-job's beer-and-potato fusion for a drunken test drive.
by Baby-Boy Jackson

Beer and potato chips may go together, but you rarely see even the drunkest of drunkards dipping his chips in his beer.

Still, I suspect that is how Beer Chips were born. Some wag out in Portland, Ore., decided that beer and chips should be slammed together at high sppeds to create Beer Chips. They are, as the bag helpfully points out, potato chips made with beer.

Along with the beer is lots of sweet stuff: sugar, honey, and cane syrup are all listed as ingredients on the bag. There is also beer, but that comes below sugar. (The government's rule on food labeling is that ingredients must be listed descending order based on weight. Thus, potatoes come first here, then oil, then sugar, then beer.)

The bag is helpful in other ways too, such as telling you how to eat the Beer Chips (1. open mouth, 2. insert beer chips, 3. swallow (don't forget to chew), 4. repeat.). It also informs you that "Beer Chips won't make you drunk, but they might make you more interesting."

So, you may ask, why am I talking so much about the bag?

Because what's in it is not something you want to eat while drinking your beer. It's not that they were terrible, it is just that they were too sweet to be a bar snack. They certainly didn't get me drunk, and only made me more mildly interesting to the people I offered them to, since who wouldn't want free chips? But over all, my recommendation is to stick to regular chips with your beer.

Besides, you don't really want to emulate the guy who has been drinking so long he's dunking his chips in his beer.

Drinkin’ And Thinkin’

Beer Dorks News

Want to know how healthy the craft beer industry is? As always, look to Portland. Craft pioneer Bridgeport announces sudden closure, adding to a growing list of PDX casualties. Did Anheuser-Busch Chicago offer their shit beer to Cody Parkey before his missed field goal? Because that may explain why he "accidentally" biffed it. Chicago now has the most breweries of any city in the country. Other things Chicago has the most of: murders, mobsters, and Ditkas. Trying to spin it positive, BA releases end of year graphic. Only 5% growth in the craft sector when nearly 1000 new breweries opened? That's a collapse waiting to happen. R.I.P. Tallgrass... another casualty as the regional/national craft beer market continues to get squeezed. Wait... Constellation Brands cut all of the Ballast Point and Funky Buddha sales staff? They merged it with their Corona/Modelo staff?? We're SHOCKED!!! Pizza Beer founder crying about failure of company, blames everyone else. Reminder, the beer tasted like vomit. Try having better ideas or making better products so you're not a failure. It's Bud Light so doesn't really matter, but we expect this beer to be sitting around for awhile. Indiana brewery to open with controversial beer names to "get the conversation going". Translation: taking advantage of serious issues for free publicity. Hundreds of amazing beers in Wisconsin and the Cubs took back the one everyone drinks just because it exists and people have heard of it. How fitting...