Ministry of Bacon

Editor’s note:  This past Saturday, Clipper City Brewing Company celebrated International Talk Like A Pirate Day with their first-ever “Bacon & Beer Fest”, featuring a bounty of some of Baltimore’s best beer and bacon dishes.  One of our most highly-esteemed baconists, Evan of The City That Breeds, was in attendance at this sold-out event and was gracious enough to file the following report for us.  — Bacon Bishop Spam

(if you’d like to read more about the beer and pirates and other such things about this event, go here.)

HELL YEAH $$$

You walk in through the front entrance and there it is sitting right in front of you: a big tray of bacon and a bar with four taps. All you care to taste bacon and beer, you say? Yeah. It’s the Bacon and Beerfest hosted by Clipper City Brewery, and this is the best 40 dollars you’ve ever spent, that’s for sure.

And I’m not just saying that. Not just for the beer aspect, but for the food alone this event could be worth 40 dollars, easily. With over 15 varieties of bacon (only a few of which I was able to taste) and a multitude of other bacon-centric food – most of which were really impressive, I cannot believe this thing didn’t sell out sooner than it did. Essentially, every bacon containing food creation you’ve received as a forward in your email was there, including the bacon explosion. Here’s a rundown of what I saw/ate – plus some bonus pictures!

• BACON BACON BACON – Pepper bacon, candied bacon, teriyaki bacon, bayou (cajun) bacon, the trays of bacon were seemingly endless. Though I don’t think I ever really saw over 15 varieties, I certainly tasted at least six. All of them were awesome. The candied bacon (aka Piggy Candy) stood out in my mind because it was definitely the most unique; literally like a candied apple, but …bacon. As it turns out, sweet and bacon go enormously well together.
• Chocolate Covered Bacon – Like I said, sweet and bacon. Chocolate covered bacon is no exception. The booth, put on by Sweet Cascades, also featured Old Bay seasoned chocolate, which was delicious as well.
• Bacon Wrapped Scallops / Water Chestnuts – John from Bad Decisions pulled out a few winners from his ever-popular Bacon and Beer happy hours and brought the sweet and smoky goodness of his bacon wrapped finger foods to the tray. They were just as good as before, but this time I didn’t pay extra for them!
• The Bacon Explosion / Bacon Cocoa Krisp – to be totally honest I had never seen a bacon explosion before this event, and when I saw that the fine freaks of Alonso’s Loco Hombre had put together several of them and were making sandwiches with them, I had to take the plunge. Yeah. It pretty much tastes like what you think it would – a seasoned sausage roll wrapped in bacon on a bun. And the bacon cocoa krisp? Holy CRAP. Like crunchy, puffy chocolate covered bacon. I just about peed my pants at this point of eating.

Some of the other things I saw but neglected to try: Bacon popcorn, bacon mac n’ cheese (from Crazy Lil’s – I’ve had it there before though and it’s a great appetizer), and some Canadian bacon BECAUSE IT’S NOT REALLY BACON JEEZ.

Good god, what a great time. Enjoy the pictures!