Bacon and beer. What could be better?
The Bacon and Beer Classic had returned to NYC. The weekend of April 22nd and April 23rd, this beloved festival celebrating two amazing things, beer and bacon, made its way back to Citi Field to give New Yorkers a time of their lives. Over 50 original bacon infused dishes from some of NYC’s best chefs and restaurants appeared at this event. Some of the notable places included Tres Carnes, Schmackary’s, Bamboo Bites, Beast of Bourbon, and many more. Along with the great food, the Bacon and Beer Classic lets guests sample an unlimited amount of beer from some of the best local and regional breweries around. And after sampling the food and the beer, guests were able to play games such as giant Jenga, go on a bungee run, or have a fun photo session with the photo booth provided. There were even temporary tattoos inspired by bacon that were a lot of fun to put on.
As we went around and sampled some of the food at this event, we definitely had some favorites to make note of. It was really interesting to see all the types of foods that can be made with bacon. There were sweet foods like a toasted marshmallow with bacon bits, pretzel pieces, and a beer coating that was sweet with a nice crunch and had a good salty finishing note from the bacon. Another great dish was from PigGuyNYC that had a slab of bacon covered in peanut butter and had a nutty type of coating that was able to present the bacon in a sweet and savory way. Another great dish was an apple ciroc bacon mini donut made by Sweet Dreams gourmet mini donuts. This donut was soft on the inside with a nice crunch on the outside. The apple gave it a great sweet taste to it and the bacon balanced it out with a smoky and salty note. But our favorite of the day was made by Druther’s Brewing Company which has a bacon bahn mi with a carrot and cucumber slaw, a deep fried bun, and the Druther’s aioli. The bacon in the bahn mi was smoky and tender and paired with the coolness of the carrot and cucumber made a great pairing. The bun itself was tasty and had a great deep fried crunch to it and the aioli was fresh and light which made for an amazing dish.
And finally, let’s talk about the beer. There were so many great breweries present at this classic such as Angry Orchard, Samuel Adams, Bad Seed, Brooklyn Brewshop, Black Hog, Anchor Brewing, along with many other breweries. We are a huge fan of cider and so Angry Orchard was a favorite of ours. Their hard apple cider really had the apple flavor come out and what was even better was that it didn’t have that much of a burn that alcohol usually gives people. That’s a major plus. Samuel Adam’s Rebel IPA brand was also a great drink. It was one of the best IPAs we have tried so far.
Overall, this year’s Bacon and Beer Classic was one of the best events of the year. This classic had such a great vibe and energy to it and what’s a better combination than beer and bacon? If you’ve never been to this classic, be sure to find out if it is coming to a city near you because it is so worth it.
