Lay's Beer n' Brats Potato Chips

Beer n’ Brats Potato Bring Life to the Party

Name: Lay's Beer 'n Brats Potato Chips
Category: Potato Chip, Snack
Ethnicity: American
Brand: Lay's (Frito-Lay, Inc.) 

Here is another funky flavor from Frito-Lay’s “Do Us a Flavor Contest”. The flavor? Beer n’ Brats Potato Chips. Now this is a smart idea, people. Meat and potatoes are two complimentary flavors inseparable since the dawn of time. It’s clear a potato chip that tastes like meat would be a natural conclusion. In this case the chip is replicating both the juicy, salty, meaty bite of a freshly grilled bratwurst and the crispy earthiness of a fried roasted potato. But then Lay’s throws a curveball by introducing “beer” into the occasion. Now we are getting somewhere. See Bratwursts are German by descent and are always consumed with delicious German beer. Just as in Germany, Americans love this combination just as much as Germans, hence the need for a very American potato chip deprived from the flavor. I am very excited to eat such a funky flavored chip. Upon first bite, I taste very little. You’d think the flavor would immediately be explosive and intense because the proposed flavor is so strange. But then it develops into something special. Like Violet in the chocolate factory, I taste as if I am eating a classic German dish. I am tasting big notes of schnitzel (no joke) and creamy and buttery mashed potatoes. The flavors start to come alive. The seasoned pork and the crunch of the chip go so well together. Each bite of another brings memories of my juicy grilled sausage and hearty roasted potatoes, in chip form! Yet as I continue to eat, I am searching far and wide for the beer flavor; it simply isn’t there. Shouldn’t this chip have some sort of light beer faint happiness or malt notes? Well man, it’s a chip! I didn’t notice the beer flavor. Yet, as I wind down my taste test, I notice that there is a texture that I have not noticed before. A slightly carbonated sensation is noticed on my tongue. Is this what they were going for? Maybe I’m just dreaming because that would be too insane. Or would it? Regardless of the possibility of Lay’s making a beer chip feel like beer on your tongue or not, this chip is insanely good. It is, in fact, one of the best lay’s chips I have ever consumed, period. All chips should have or start with this flavor. Start with this as a base and move upwards. They’re savory, deeply satisfying, salty, and for once, real tasting! The poor bugger who invented this flavor won’t the props they deserve. However, I think it’s kick-ass and proves that creativity in a boring snack world could bring some miraculous results. 

Rating: A- (Mostly all Potato Chips Should Start Here)