Today, we will be reviewing a beer that is inspired by Pop Tarts.

Let me repeat myself; I’m not sure that sunk in. Today we will be reviewing a beer that is inspired by Pop Tarts.

This story is just so much fun and is the perfect fit for our blog. The 21st Amendment Brewery was founded in the year 2000 in San Francisco, CA. Until recently, they had been canning their retail beers in Cold Spring, MN. Due to constrained capacity at the former facility and the desire to expand distribution opportunities to new markets, 21st Amendment signed a lease to brew in an enormous building in San Leandro, CA. But this wasn’t just any enormous building. It was a former Kellogg’s cereal plant where Pop Tarts and Eggo Waffles were once made prior to Kellogg’s pulling the plug on the plant in 1995, laying off 325 workers who I sincerely hope got Pop Tart termination packages. The co-founders of 21st Amendment, Nico and Shaun, sound like pretty cool dudes because they decided to pay homage to the building’s past and brew a beer that was inspired by toaster pastries. The beer’s name? Toaster Pastry.

21st Amendment Toaster Pastry is an Indian Style Red Ale that uses biscuit malts to provide a “slightly nutty, crust-like flavor,” while pale and dark crystal malts are supposed to evoke strawberry jam. No; they did not crush up Pop Tarts and dump them into the wort, sadly. But since Pop Tarts are pretty artificial as it is, I’m still looking forward to 21st Amendment Toaster Pastry. If you haven’t noticed, we like to review Pop Tarts on our blog. We also like to review beer,  but you may not have noticed since the reviews are far more infrequent because we usually just get drunk, have a good time, and forget the password to the blog.

Ok, let’s get this out of the way first. To answer every single one of your questions, 21st Amendment Toaster Pastry does not taste like liquid Pop Tarts. All is not lost, however. The smell on the head is strawberry with a little citrus and some sweet malts. This beer is super malty, but it’s balanced by a subtle fruity sweetness from the Calypso hops known for their tropical fruit flavor. This hop presence is bold, which comes as a bit of a surprise after the sweet aroma. But the hop blend is downright delicious; exactly the profile I look for in my red ales. The beer is moderately carbonated with a thinner mouthfeel than one would expect from beer with an ABV approaching 8%. Super drinkable with no alcohol burn. As it warmed (like Pop Tarts!), I picked up on some caramel nodes as well. God I can’t wait for those Chocolatey Caramel Pop Tarts. I really enjoy 21st Amendment Toaster Pastry, despite it not tasting exactly like Pop Tarts. The “inspired by” tag is appropriate. I briefly considered toasting my beer, but opted for a safer course of action:

Absolutely dreadful.

Never, Ever Dunk Your Pop Tarts in Your Beer Rating: 9.5 out of 10
How Much I Want to Live in Pop Tart Factory Rating: 10 out of 10
Overall Rating: 7.5 out of 10