Chocolate has traditionally been seen as a gift appropriate for women. But here’s something that gives it a manly twist – beer flavored candy.

Beer has been used as a candy flavoring for quite some time now and is something that many chocolatiers are experimenting with. The earliest known beer candy was introduced around three years ago, by Nicole Green. Ms. Green is the proprietor of Truffle Truffle, an online confectioner. Their top-selling product is the “Beer and Pretzel Collection.” The collection consists of goodies such as the beer-and-pretzel truffles and caramels, beer brittle and beer marshmallows.

Photo © TruffleTruffle.com

The idea of introducing beer into candy-making first came to her when she was taking a pastry class in New York. One weekend, she went to a Yankees Game, ordering a soft pretzel and a Bud Light. That’s when the idea came to her, to put the two together. Since her creation, several confectioners are now experimenting with candy made from beer. Technically, beer is difficult to work with, as it burns at the high temperatures that are typically maintained during candy-making. While it is possible to make hard candy with beer, the process is extremely tricky. So most candy makers stick to soft, chewy, yeasty candy containing beer.

Photo © TruffleTruffle.com

Vosges Haut Chocolat, another chocolate company, came out with a new product – Smoke and Stout Caramel Bar. This bar is made of beer brewed from dark-roasted malt. Some of the other confectioners selling beer candy include Dean & DeLuca with their six pack of Roni-Sue’s black-stout and India Pale Ale caramels, Anette’s Chocolate Factory for their award-winning  Beer Brittle and Firey Beer Brittle, and Steve Casselman’s beercandy.com selling lager caramels.

Interestingly, attempts at creating macho chocolates have gone back as early as the late 90s, with hot chili chocolates and salted chocolates and caramels.

via WSJ