The Cutest Way to Serve Pumpkin Beer (and a Hot Pretzel Bar!)
Okay are you ready? This is the cutest way to have the best pumpkin beer party!
I cant get over the adorableness of this table. Grab your favorite autumnal beers and a big old pumpkin and GET READY.
Annnd I’m definitely the person who wants a cinnamon sugar rimmed glass with my pumpkin or fall beer. Judge me if you must.
Go find your most favorite pumpkin beers. Wait!
What ARE your favorite pumpkin beers? My favorites right now are probably Leinenkugel Harvest Patch Shandy and Jack-O Traveler Pumpkin Shandy. Those ones are SO delish with a cinnamon sugar rim. And to be honest, I don’t really even want the beer without the sugared rim. It’s not like I’m drinking them all the time, so I reallllly want to live it up.
SO. How to make this more fun?
A PUMPKIN COOLER!! Oh my gosh.
Confession: I am obsessed with the practice of carving pumpkins and the tradition of doing so. Eddie carves incredible pumpkins (he is a great artist!) but I have very little patience for the actual act of doing so. Whomp whomp.
However, I sure as heck can make a pumpkin cooler. Just carve off the top. Clean it out. Add ice. Add beer!
Super easy.
Also.
What could be better to pair with all of our favorite autumnal beers than a hot pretzel bar?
Eeeeep!
This was Lacy’s idea and we’ve been talking about the deliciousness since July. We could not WAIT to put this together.
Like most of my favorite “bars” – this is alllll about the dips. Sure, you could make different varieties of soft pretzels (jalapeno chedder and pepperoni and cinnamon sugar and what not) but for me? I just want the dips. Give me alllll the dips.
The star of the show here is the chipotle cheddar beer cheese. With October right on the horizon, I’m ready to start living in beer cheese central. I’ve made beer cheese snacks on the blog for years now and eating beer cheese soup a million years ago with my mom is one of my most vivid memories. There are few things as delicious as beer cheese.
I think it all started for me as a kid – I mean, not that I was given beer cheese often, but I remember tasting that old school beer cheese dip you’d make in a ring of Hawaiian bread. That was theeee moment I fell in love.
What do we have here, aside from the pretzels and beer cheese dip? An apple butter Dijon dip (that Eddie actually told us about! Like what?!), some ranch, blue cheese and good old honey mustard. Oh oh and a little bit of yellow mustard too. Because how can you eat pretzels without mustard?!
The dips are all up to you. You can go absolutely crazy on what you’d like to serve. As a self-proclaimed mustard freak (who basically has a mustard collection), I choose the briney and cheesy dips over ranch or more dressing-like dips.
You can also always do sweet dips, like a cinnamon sugar or cream-cheese based sweet dip. Even a salted caramel or hot fudge!
Keep in mind that the pretzels are SO carby. I mean, okay, obviously, like you know that. It’s a big old hunk of bread. But I find hot pretzels to be so heavy and carby that I rarely overdo it, so I’d keep your dips to a maximum of about six if you’re serving this at a party. That way, you won’t be left with a ton of waste.
And in the spirit of SAVING YOU TIME: I suggest you buy the pretzels if you can. Yes, I have a recipe where you can make your own. You can make buns or twists or bowls or nuggets. But soft pretzels only last for a short period of time (I liken them to stale donuts. Ha!), so use your time wisely and if you can get delish ones near you, do it. And spend your time making dips!
Okay now who is going out and trying all the fall beer this weekend?
The Cutest Way to Serve Pumpkin Beer (and a Hot Pretzel Bar!)
Ingredients
chipotle cheddar beer cheese
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2/3 cup beer
- 10 ounces freshly grated white cheddar cheese
- 1 chipotle pepper diced
- 1 tablespoon adobo sauce from the can of chipotles
apple dijon dip
- 1/4 cup apple butter
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
hot pretzel bar
- a bunch of soft pretzels whether you make or buy them
- chipotle cheddar beer cheese dip above
- apple dijon dip above
- blue cheese dip
- ranch dip or dressing
- your favorite honey mustard
pumpkin cooler
- 1 large wide some symmetry helps! pumpkin
- a bunch of your favorite fall or pumpkin beers!
Instructions
chipotle cheddar beer cheese
- To make the beer cheese sauce, heat a small saucepan over medium heat and add butter. Once sizzling, whisk in flour and stir for 1 to 2 minutes until golden and fragrant and bubbly. Add in beer, whisking well to combine, then reduce heat to low (make sure it's low!) and add the cheese gradually, stirring until totally melted and smooth. Stir in the chipotle and adobo sauce. Sprinkle with smoked paprika or red pepper flakes and serve!
apple dijon dip
- Whisk ingredients together until combined and serve.
- hot pretzel bar
- Assemble your soft pretzels (and big sourdough hard pretzels, if you wish!) and dips on a big platter, just like a cheese board!
pumpkin cooler
- Slice the top off of the pumpkin. Remove the insides and the seeds. You can also shave down the sides up top and the opening of the pumpkin.
- Fill the pumpkin with ice and stick the beers inside. Be the cutest ever!
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
I couldn’t be cozier.
38 Comments on “The Cutest Way to Serve Pumpkin Beer (and a Hot Pretzel Bar!)”
This is so creative!
thank you diane!
I love this and might just borrow your pretzel bar idea for a birthday party I’m throwing! But also…stale pretzels might make a great savory bread pudding. With mustard.
Ooh, or possibly a breakfast strata?
robin the breakfast strata sounds insane! i think i def have to try that. :)
loooove that idea!
so i actually made an amazing pretzel panzenella that is coming in a few weeks. :)
Obsessed with this idea! I’m going to do it for our Halloween party.
thanks sam! let me know if you try it!
Adorable! Love this idea, but my favorite pumpkin beer is the kind without pumpkin. I know, I know! I love pumpkin, but please don’t put it in my beer! :)
bahaha i love you. i get it, i do!
How do you constantly come up with the best ideas???? I love this!
thank you so much jenny!
Shipyard Pumpkinhead is my all-time favorite but I can’t find it anywhere around me anymore! (I live in central MO). I discovered it while at school in NH. I miss it so much. LOVE the idea of the pretzel bar! And those dips sound spoon-worthy! *drools*
thanks so much deanna!! xoxoxo
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Where did you buy your pretzels??
I second that question!
so i got mine at the philly pretzel company! i would suggest buying them at a pretzel “store” (like auntie ann’s or something if possible. my local grocery store even sells them on the weekends and i think sam’s club does too?
This is amazing!!! I was already planning on making pretzels with cheese dip this weekend, but will now be adding the apple Dijon butter. Thank you!
love that keri!! xo ENJOY!
2 favorites – Alewerks Pumpkin Ale (Williamsburg, VA) and Cigar City’s Good Gourd (Tampa, FL). Probably not distributing to you yet but if you get a chance to try them, I think you will really enjoy Alewerks. It’s the closest thing to pie in a bottle and would be great with a cinnamon sugar rim. A lot of people love Southern Tier Pumking too.
Cinnamon sugar rim for life!!!! 🙌🙌 and also I hoard pumpkin beer like it’s my job 💁
Cinnamon sugar rim for pumpkin beer is genius. Can’t wait to try!! Like, maybe tonight. 😆
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would love to try that PUMPKIN BEER with my friends. thank you for sharing this post with us
What an excellent idea!!! How adorable.
This is amazing!
Having a fall party w a bunch of 16 yo girls
What drink can I use instead of beer but still keeping cinnamon sugar rims?
Cider…other?
This is just the cutest idea! I want to do this for our house-warming party!
This set up is adorable and can I just say – OMG Beer Cheese!
I’m surprised Pimiento Cheese did not make an appearance here too. :)
I just adore these pictures! I never comment, but I am so in love with how delightfully fall these are! Flannel, pumpkins, leaves. It’s just perfect.
girl, this idea is EPIC! (sorry, there is no other word.) what an awesome idea, delicious, and super fun. all the fall!
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I know this was last year – but I’m hosting a pumpkin beer tasting this weekend (!) and LOVE your table-scape, any chance you remember where you got those blankets/table throws?
yes!! they are pendleton plaid throw blankets. i bought mine at nordstrom, just did a quick search and i can’t find them on their website anymore. but maybe somewhere else has them?! :)
I love this idea and think it will be so cute for the Octoberfest party I’m going to this weekend. I know you wrote this last year but thought I would try asking. What size board did you use? Thank you!!
thanks!! you mean the board the pretzels are on? it’s this one! https://www.crateandbarrel.com/slate-20×12-cheese-board/s215965
Yes that one! Thank you so much Jessica!