Mustard and beer is a great combination, but usually we’re talking mustard used as a condiment on a sausage or pretzel alongside a pint. Colorado’s Oskar Blues Brewery has taken this pairing to a whole new level with a new collaboration with French’s Mustard, appropriately called French’s Mustard Beer. It’s a tropical wheat beer that is literally brewed with French’s Classic Yellow Mustard, along with an infusion of fruit and citrus flavors including key lime, lemon, tangerine, and passion fruit. “We’re stoked on bold flavors at Oskar Blues Brewery and we never shy away from a challenge,” said Oskar Blues head brewer, Juice Drapeau, in a prepared statement. “With French’s Mustard Beer we elevated the Classic Yellow Mustard flavor with tangy lemon and lime to create a tropical wheat ale I’d pair with a loaded hot dog on the hottest day of the year.”
This isn’t the first food crossover for French’s, known for its bright yellow mustard that is ubiquitous at backyard barbecues around the country. Last year, the brand collaborated with Coolhaus to release a mustard ice cream that was available in New York and California for a limited time alongside a pretzel cookie. And Oskar Blues is no stranger to brewing uniquely flavored beer, as indicated by its “Death By” series of brews with such flavors as king cake, coconut, and even affogato.
So how does the beer actually taste? While it’s not something you’d want to pour on your hot dog, it is definitely recognizably mustard-flavored. Sweet and sour fruit notes immediately pop, followed by a tartness that grows in intensity as you sip. It all brings to mind, well, yellow mustard, especially when you take a good, long sniff. Along with the new beer, a home brew recipe is available on the website, along with recipes for food pairing ideas like mustard beer-basted sausages with onions, beer and mustard-marinated flank steak, bacon honey-mustard beer bread, Scotch ale beer cheese, and pale ale and mustard BBQ pulled chicken. This is a limited release, and you can buy it online here.
