Surprising Beer-Flavored Foods

You won’t feel tipsy, because alcohol burns out during the cooking process, so get ready to experience beer cooking in its strangest forms.

Washed:
River Valley Ranch’s raw cow’s milk tomme cheese is rind-washed in Pike Brewing’s Naughty Nellie Ale. You’ll find it at The Calf & Kid cheese shop on Capitol Hill (1531 Melrose Ave., Suite C2; 206.467.5447; calfandkid.com); $19.95/pound.

Baked:
Cougar Mountain Baking Company makes Double Chocolate XXXXX Stout cookies with Pike Brewing Company stout, giving the cookies their rich flavor. They are available this month only, to coincide with Oktoberfest. You’ll find them at QFC, Whole Foods, Metropolitan Markets, PCC Natural Markets or Haggen/Top Foods, or buy online at cmbc.com.

Steamed:
Try Pike Pub’s beer-steamed mussels or clams. Pick your mollusk—and your poison from its list of beers. If sea critters aren’t your thing, indulge in the mac ’n’ cheese with Scotch ale cheese sauce or the homemade pretzel with stout mustard.

Creamed:
Bluebird Homemade Ice Cream & Tea Room (Capitol Hill, 1205 E Pike St.; 206.588.1079; bluebirdseattle.blogspot.com) befriended next-door neighbors Elysian Brewing Company to create its stout-infused ice cream. Port Orchard–based Carter’s Chocolates (160 Bethel Ave.; carterschocolates.com) also makes a beer ice cream, using Pike Brewing Company’s stout and Kilt Lifter Ale.

Chocolate!
Carter’s Chocolates makes three different kinds of beer truffles infused with beer from Pike Brewing Company: organically grown Colombian dark chocolate with stout; milk chocolate with Pike’s Kilt Lifter Ale; and a mixture of dark and milk chocolates infused with Pike’s Tandem Ale. These treats are available at Pike’s pub and brewery (see directory) and at The Chocolate Box (Downtown, 108 Pine St.).