Stacey Langille reviews Ballard's Farm beer flavored cheese dip.
"Beers of the world, unite!"
Ballard's Farm beer flavored
cheese dip review
Submitted by Stacey
Langille
What can be said about a snack food
that combines two of
life's genuinely delicious items? Mostly, Why the hell have I not found
this
before; and, Why the heck is it in such a small package?
Being a Canadian, I can easily answer the first question, as this product is not available here; and to answer the second, they only had the one size and when trying something new you do not want to over-purchase, in case it is really bad.
Backing up a bit might be a better way to tell this little story. Recently, I went to Sandusky, Ohio to visit Cedar Point Amusement Park. In the 18 years I have been in Ontario, I have never made the four-hour trip to this great attraction. Paramount Wonderland was a mere two hours away and has always won out.
Ballard's Farm beer flavored cheese dip
The trip was planned with the drive the night before and a stay in a cheap hotel, to be well rested for the coaster heaven that awaited us.
Arriving at around 11pm, we were kind of hungry but did not want a full meal that would keep us up all night, so we opted to go to the local 24hr megastore to get some snack foods for bedtime.
The usual things hit the cart like chips, crackers and assorted other munchies. Then we passed by the dairy counter.
Not really the place for my midnight snacks, but suddenly I saw it, staring at me between the fancy dips and overpriced spreads: Ballard's Farm beer flavored Cheese dip.
I kid you not, I was stopped in my tracks. Ballard's Farm beer flavored cheese dip? Yes, really. I remember thinking at that split moment, "I bet that is kind of gross," but my curiosity got the best of me, so I reached for the package and read the ingredients.
They seemed pretty natural, with the beer actually showing hops, barley and yeast and not some fabricated flavour from a jar that pretends to taste like beer. Even if it sucked, I would still have an article or at least a rant about wasting money on a cheese product pretending to taste like beer.
Once we were settled in the hotel, we assembled our mini snack buffet and began munching. The Ballard's Farm beer flavored cheese dip was opened and, much to our surprise, did not really smell too different from a regular nacho style cheese dip. A subtle hint of beer was present, but could have come from an open beer in close proximity.
First nacho chip in and the difference from a regular dip was very noticeable. The texture was smooth but much thicker and it was very easy to break a chip, leaving the next person with the reward of a completely covered morsel and a little tear in your eye. The tear is because once the cheese-covered nacho hits your mouth, you realise that this is no regular dip.
Not a fabricated cheap wannabe but a real tasty and delicious product. Did I say tasty? Oh yes, tasty! The beer flavour was not overpowering, yet neither was the cheese. They were in my opinion a beer-cheese marriage made in heaven. They complemented each other and I am sure made the nacho chip happy to be meeting its eventual fate in my stomach.
The other snacks became very bland and boring in comparison to Ballard's Farm beer flavored cheese dip and I was almost fighting for space to dip as we both were enjoying this new-found treat. As we were snacking, we cut things off at about half the container and quickly filled our cooler with ice to preserve this tasty goodness for the trip home.
The next day meant free continental breakfast and the day at the park. If the breakfast was not free, I may have polished off the rest of the nachos and beer cheese.
I don't really want to underscore the whole amusement park thing, but at home later that night the second round of nachos and Ballard's Farm beer flavored cheese dip was just as good as the first. It may have been the highlight of my trip!
If you love beer and enjoy cheese dip, go to the store now and buy some, so maybe the sales will go up and they will start to export to Canada and I won't have to drive four hours to get it... even though it would be worth it!
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