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2016 Halloween Candy & Beer Pairings

We created a new list of our favorite Halloween candy and beer pairings to help make your Halloween a whole lot better!

Libby Murphy Oct 6, 2016 - 6 min read

2016 Halloween Candy & Beer Pairings  Primary Image

Every year we pick our favorite Halloween candies, then pair them up with our favorite beers. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it! After you’ve read the list (and tried some of the pairings!), we’d love to know your favorites, too.

Indian Corn + Chocolate Stout or Porter

Indian Corn is Candy Corn’s cousin, with more of a chocolaty flavor than a honeyed one. Pair it with a chocolate stout to enhance the sweetness and the chocolaty goodness.

Sour Patch Kids + Watermelon Sour

Sour Patch Kids are all up in your face with tart juicy flavor, and you need a beer that can stand up to that. Watermelon sours are sweet, juicy, and tart and will bring it flavor-wise when paired with Sour Patch Kids.

  • Anderson Valley Briney Melon Gose (Booneville, California)
  • Valiant Brewing Company Watermelon Patch Sour (Orange, California)
  • Dangerous Man Brewing Sour Delores #7 Righteous Babe Watermelon Sour (Minneapolis, Minnesota)

Skittles + Mexican Lager with Lime

The crisp, refreshing Mexican lager has just a hint of citrus, which is perfectly suited to go with the citrusy punch from a handful of Skittles. The fruity notes from the lager will blend beautifully, balancing the sweet and the tart.

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Swedish Fish + Funky Fruity Saison

The funk adds a bit of tartness that plays nicely with the fruitiness and floral notes in the beer. It all comes together nicely with the sweet fruitiness in the Swedish Fish, making for a pairing you can’t get enough of.

Twizzlers or Red Vines + Kriek

Twizzlers and Red Vines have a sugary sweet fruity flavor, and while nobody can really tell you what exactly that fruit is, they taste amazing when paired with the sour cherry-flavored Kriek. (And if you really want to have fun with it, bite off the tips and use the candy as a straw!)

Jolly Ranchers + New England IPA

You can serve up your Jolly Ranchers like a fruit salad or choose one flavor to focus on at a time. The fruity, juicy New England IPA has tons of tropical fruit flavors, lending a nice variety to your pairing.

  • WeldWerks Brewing Company Fruity Bits (Pina Colada) (Greeley, Colorado)
  • New England Brewing Co. Big Fuzzy Double (Woodbridge, Connecticut)
  • Great Notion Juice, Jr. (Portland, Oregon)

Gummy Bears + Citrusy Witbier

The smooth creamy witbier with a hint of orange and spice is the perfect pairing for the sugary, fruity Gummy Bears.

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Almond Joy + Barrel-Aged Coconut Beer

Almond Joy is the perfect marriage of sweet, chocolate, coconut, and almond. A barrel-aged beer that highlights those same flavors, while also bringing in notes of oak, vanilla, and spice, will make this a pairing that’s nothing if not decadent.

  • Firestone Walker Sucaba (Paso Robles, California)
  • Modern Times Beer Monsters’ Park (Bourbon Barrel w/ Coconut & Cocoa Nibs) (San Diego, California)
  • Horse & Dragon Brewing Company Rum Barrel Aged Coconut Porter (Fort Collins, Colorado)

Snickers + PB&J Stout or Porter

You don’t want to be too matchy-matchy with the flavors, especially with Snickers being so rich and creamy. Add just a bit of intrigue with a hint of fruitiness to a dark peanut butter beer, so the rich flavors don’t clash too much.

  • Terrapin Beer Company Liquid Lunch (Athens, Georgia)
  • Infamous Brewing Company Sweep the Leg (Austin, Texas)
  • Jack’s Abby Peanut Butter & Jelly Barrel-Aged Framinghammer (Framingham, Massachusetts)

Heath + Munich Dunkel

A Munich Dunkel is basically what you’d get if a Heath bar and a beer had a baby. It’s rich, with toffee and chocolate, and it’s the perfect complement to the toffee yumminess in a Heath bar.

  • Harpoon Brewery Harpoon Dark (Boston, Massachusetts)
  • Warsteiner Premium Dunkel (Germany)
  • Hacker-Pschorr Münchner Dunkel (München, Germany)

Twix + Salted Caramel Stout or Porter

There’s not a lot that salted caramel doesn’t taste good with (that said, I’m going to probably draw the line at Mahi Mahi). The melty caramel amazingness of the Twix bar paired with a smooth, salty, caramel stout or porter is like heaven in your mouth.

  • Breakside Brewery Salted Caramel Stout (Portland, Oregon)
  • Former Future Brewing Company Salted Caramel Prim & Porter (Denver, Colorado)
  • Cascade Lakes Brewing Company Salted Caramel Porter (Redmond, Oregon)

Check out last year’s Halloween candy pairing!

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Photo by Libby Murphy

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