Review: Kettle Brand Limited Batch Cheddar Beer Potato Chips

Happy Monday, So Good readers! Junk Food Guy, back again, bringing you another review one day before the 2012 Election Day. And I, for one, am glad.  Yes, I have a candidate I who I want to win. No, I will not be discussing it here. I’m going to be glad when Election Day is over because I am SICK. OF. THESE. ADS.

I understand that candidates want to slam each other, prop themselves up, use sound bites to help/hurt/attack/defend…but on every channel, every hour, CONSTANTLY? I can’t take it anymore!  One minute I’m trying to get game highlights from Sunday’s NFL games to see just how badly my fantasy football team performed (AGAIN), the next I’m seeing seven, SEVEN, political ads IN A ROW! Endorsed by, not endorsed by, put on by, brought to you by…STOP!  Bring me back my GEICO talking baby, my Buffalo Wild Wings “extend game” button, and my animated 3-D Cheetahs. Please. Thank you.

Today’s junk food: Kettle Brand Limited Batch Cheddar Beer Potato Chips!

You know, I love a chip company who is willing to bring back flavors that everyone loved but for some reason it decided to discontinue.  That never made sense – if you have something that is Limited Edition, and you get HUGE positive results back from it, MAKE IT NOT LIMITED EDITION.  They never listen to me.  Anyways, Kettle Brand is bringing back a favorite from 2005 – Limited Batch Cheddar Beer Potato Chips!

Regarding these Kettle Brand Limited Batch Cheddar Beer Potato Chips (according to the press release): “After debuting as a fan pick during the brand’s first People’s Choice vote in 2005, this flavor earned a cult following. A combination of tangy sharp cheese with malty beer notes forms a perfect balance of smooth and salty flavors.”  Again, if it was the People’s Choice, then why stop making it??? Boo.

Kettle Brand Limited Batch Cheddar Beer Potato Chips don’t have beer listed as an ingredient, which is sad, only because I wanted these chips to have a % ALC rating somewhere.  Even if it was 0.000001% ALC.  C’mon, Kettle.  Toss me a bone here.

There is plenty of yeast added to these ingredients which I am sure will help enhance the carby-beer flavor.

I’d already reviewed two of these Limited Batch Kettle Chips over on Junkfoodguy.com, so I was excited to try these Kettle Brand Limited Batch Cheddar Beer Potato Chips. I wanted the bag to emit a beer-can-opening sound when I pulled it open, but that’s only because I’m immature.  These chips had a standard look, and there wasn’t any distinct smell from the bag.  Time to dig in!

These Kettle Brand Limited Batch Cheddar Beer Potato Chips had the standard really nice, crispy, Kettle-chip crunch.  The thicker cut of the potato meant that even smaller chips had great flavor.  And the folded over ones? Heaven.

The flavor? I’ve had plenty of cheddar beer dips in my life, and these definitely hit the mark.  The cheddar taste was immediate – the cheese powder was strong and sharp, like a good cheddar should be. Then the flavor took a left turn and evolved into a rather excellent malty smooth taste. This wasn’t a cheese flavor alone…it definitely had elements that reminded me of beer dip.  For example, as the cheese flavor rounded out from the initial taste, that slight bitterness crept in that I’m familiar with with beer dips. The aftertaste was a little yeast-y (in a good way!)  The slight taste of paprika definitely helped enhance the flavor from just a plain cheese taste.  This was subtle – while I almost expected a club-you-over-the-head cheese flavor, these were so much more.

All in all, I thought these definitely tasted like chips dipped in cheddar beer dip.  My friends over at Chip Review agree – Really flavorful, yet light-handed in its flavor construction.  I’d definitely eat these again.

PURCHASED AT: Whole Foods

COST: $2.69

Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy and read more reviews at JunkFoodGuy.com. Let’s hang out.