Happy Halloween friends! As most of you know, John and I have two little boys who have pretty much been vibrating with excitement in anticipation of today. Halloween is the absolute peak of awesomeness in the mind of a young kid. They get to dress up in superhero costumes, go knock on the doors of the people they are never allowed to bother, AND they get candy? It’s no wonder that it’s the best. Tonight, after John and I put our little superheroes to bed, we’ll do what most parents of small children do… go through their candy and take most of the good stuff. We’re not monsters, we don’t take it all. We’ve carefully calculated how many of each of the “good” candies they’ll remember getting. Then, we take the rest and put it up for later. After all, we gave them life – we figure, they owe us chocolate.

In case you also find yourself come into a windfall of chocolate, I have carefully curated what I believe to be the definitive list of Halloween candy and Trek Beer pairings. Make sure to come grab a few crowlers and see if we agree. For science and all.

M&M’s and Canteen Cream Ale: M&M’s have that iconic combination of sugary shell and chocolate. These favorites call for a crisp and clean refreshing beer to cut through all that sweetness and refresh your palate. You can’t go wrong with the Canteen.

Hershey’s Bar and Trail Majik Vanilla Stout: Sometimes you just need chocolate on chocolate. I’m not judging. A plain Hershey’s bar with the chocolatey, roasty malt of Trail Majik will absolutely hit the spot. It’s also probably not a coincidence that I pair my two faves together.

Twix and Scarlet Red Ale: The cookie center of the Twix bar really brings out the biscuit malt character of the Scarlet. We often call Scarlet the goldilocks of beer- not too malty, and not to hoppy. This brew is a perfect match for your Twix.

Gummy Bears and Sainte Terre Saison: Sainte Terre is floral and lightly fruity, and just a touch of sweet. Pair it with your slightly sweet, slightly fruity gummies and you’ve got a match.

Lemon Heads and Solo Hike IPA: Our classic West Coast style IPA is full of citrus hop goodness. Lemon heads are full of lemon zing. It’s perfection together.

Finally, coming on tap soon is our Wishing Star Porter. I’d recommend saving those Reese’s and savoring with a pint of Wishing Star. The chocolate notes in Wishing Star somehow make the chocolatey -peanut butter dream that is a Reese’s cup even more fantastic.

Come on in and grab a few crowlers this weekend and check my math. If you find a better pairing, please let me know. I’ll be happy to grab a pint and eat some candy with you until we arrive at the right answer.

Cheers friends. Happy Halloween!