Victory Brewing Company collaborates with food artisans
Thanks to recent collaborations between Victory Brewing Company and a bevy of local food artisans, now you can drink your beer and eat it, too.
Delaware-based Crisp & Co. uses Victory Prima Pils in their new Pint Pickles. Homesweet Homegrown, from Kutztown, Pa., makes a ghost pepper hot sauce called Punch Drunk with Storm King Stout. A trio of cheddar cheese spreads from Key Ingredient Market in Bath, Pa., are spiked with Victory varieties. Righteous Felon Jerky in Westchester, Pa., uses both wort (unfermented malted barley and water) and Storm King to add sweetness to its Victorious B.I.G. jerky. Victory has also begun making their own signature ice cream flavors: Storm Drop, Hopped Up Devil, and Triple Monkey.
Bill Covaleski, Victory’s president and brewmaster, says of the project: “For over 18 years we’ve relished the pleasure of pairing great beers with great foods here at Victory. Our retail food collaborations make this pleasure more convenient for our audience, while our brand gives lift to smaller producers of these great flavors.”
Ivy Hunter, Victory’s merchandise coordinator, adds that the brewing company’s goal is to help support the local food community while introducing new markets to the Victory brand.
“We really want to support these local artisans just like people supported us,” Hunter says. “It’s very popular now to pair food and beer, but it wasn’t always. So we loved that all of these smaller brands are interested in doing that.”
For Homesweet Homegrown, a small hot-sauce company owned by Robyn Jasko and her husband Paul David, the Victory partnership was beneficial in multiple ways. Since their inception in 2012, they’ve always aimed to make 100 percent vegan hot sauces. Robyn was troubled when a customer alerted her that Guinness, which she used in her Punch Drunk flavor, was not in fact, vegan (isinglass, a product made from the swim bladders of fish, is used in its clarification process).
“It dawned on me that I should be using local beer anyway,” she says. “So I reached out to Victory, because I’ve always loved their beers, which are all vegan.” The Victory team was eager to partner with Homesweet Homegrown, and after a few months of taste testing and approvals, they cemented their collaboration in the new formulation of Punch Drunk. The pairing has been a boon. “People that love beer tend to love Victory,” Jasko says. “And the people that love both hot sauce and beer tend to be really good people. So it’s been fun!”
To find these beerified snacks, stop by Green Aisle Grocery for Righteous Felon Jerky Cartel’s jerky, Kimberton Whole Foods for Victory’s ice cream, Philly Whole Foods for Homesweet Homegrown’s hot sauce, and DiBruno Bro.’s for Crisp & Co.’s pickles. Want it in one place? Head to Victory’s retail shop and brewpub in Downingtown.
