Hops Candy

It's been less than a week since Halloween, which means all of the Halloween candy that you tried to avoid throughout the spooky season is now 50-75% off. If you haven't indulged and did not wake up in a pile of chocolate wrappers, good for you, way to have self-control. If you did eat your weight in chocolate over the weekend here's a different type of candy to try: candy made from hops.

I tried hop candy a while back and I'm still not sure what I make of it. Essentially it's just sugar with a bit of hop oil. I had a variety pack that featured multiple varieties of hops (Cascade, English East Kent Golding, Saaz, etc.). I tried a Cascade flavored candy about the size of a jolly rancher. It took a long time to disintegrate and I'm pretty sure it gave me my first cavity.

It was super sweet with a piney/floral hop taste that wasn't bad, but wasn't that good. I've also tasted malt extract and tried wort on it's own before, and I could pull out an unfinished wort essence. Somehow, the sweetness, bitterness and earthiness didn't quite fit together. I want to try another flavor of the hop candy because I'm curious...but at the same time I don't. I definitely would prefer to drink my beer rather than let the non-alcoholic flavorings rot my teeth.

This is a fairly harsh review and I blame the sugar hangover of the post-Halloween season. There are probably some craft beer lovers that would squeal with delight as they savor this candy. Also, this a pretty decent gift for beer-heads (are you thinking about Christmas? I am.) who might want to get the hops flavor without the buzz of a drinking a beer. At least try a piece or two before you swear it off forever. Basically what I'm saying is, If I get a cavity, you have to get a cavity too.  

You probably can't find these in typical candy stores, so your best chance at buying hop candy is from your favorite beer store.Typically a 4oz bags of the candy sell for roughly $5. Maybe your craft beer store will sell them individually so you can give it a test taste before investing in a whole bag. Then we can visit the dentist together. Doesn't that sound like fun?