Beer for Breakfast? New Waffle House collaboration Brew smells like Bacon

Everything is better with bacon, right? Even beer?

Leave it to that reliable breakfast destination Waffle House to test that theory. The Atlanta-headquartered restaurant chain has teamed with Oconee Brewing Company to concoct a new bacon-infused beer that delivers an aroma of breakfast meat.

The aptly and humorously titled Bacon & Kegs beer, a 6.5% ABV red ale, has a malty character enhanced with “salty, savory, and smokey bacon extract,” the Greensboro, Georgia-based brewery says. “Bacon & Kegs pairs well with breakfast food items (obviously!) or can be enjoyed as a stand-alone, soon to be iconic beer.”

Oconee Brewing reached out to Waffle House’s headquarters in Atlanta, less than 100 miles to the west, about teaming up on a beer. “This story began in January with someone with Waffle House being kind enough to respond to an email that I sent proposing a collaboration,” Oconee’s media director Leslie Tillery said in an interview with Food & Wine.

The brewery met with some Waffle House executives in Atlanta but the coronavirus pandemic delayed subsequent tastings for a while. Eventually, “our two groups held a taste test at Oconee Brewing Company,” Tillery said, “and chose a bacon-infused red ale to release as the first ever Waffle House beer!”

While this may be the first Beer/Bacon collaboration, it technically won’t be the first breakfast-themed beer. Dunkin’ and Harpoon Brewery have collaborated on several beers including a Dunkin’ Coffee, Porter Dunkin’ Pumpkin, Dunkin’ Boston Kreme Stout and Dunkin’ Jelly Donut IPA, which can be purchased in a Dunkin’ Dozen Mix Pack of 12-ounce cans.

Initially, Bacon & Kegs will be sold in six packs or on draft at Oconee Brewing Company beginning December 18. The collaboration beer could get a wider release, but not necessarily at Waffle House itself. So far, only the Waffle House at SunTrust Park, home of the Atlanta Braves, actually sells beer.


Photo Credit:  Lukasz Engel / Shutterstock.com