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4 | February 27, 2020 | the new lenox patriot news
newlenoxpatriotdaily.com
Arrowhead Ales, Fleckenstein’s collaborate for paczki beer again
3
Sean Hastings, Editor
After last year’s turnout for the
debut of “Reveler,” the paczkiinspired
stout, it was a no-brainer
that Arrowhead and Fleckenstein’s
would team up again and
bring it back.
Arrowhead Ales and Fleckenstein’s
Bakery collaborated in
2019 to make two variants of the
stout: strawberry, and chocolate
Bavarian cream.
“We talked about it, the fact
that we would revisit this, and
with how much fun we had last
year, it just made sense to do it
again,” Arrowhead owner Mike
Bacon said. “It seemed like the
response was positive with everybody
in town and we all like to
have a good time.”
A release party is slated for 11
a.m. Saturday, Feb. 29, at Arrowhead
Ales, 2101 Calistoga Drive
in New Lenox. A “Reveler” is a
person who likes to have a good
time in a loud manner.
“It made sense to throw a
party and make a beer with our
friends at Fleckenstein’s down
the street,” Bacon said.
Arrowhead is bringing back the
chocolate Bavarian cream version
and debuting a banana split
variant. Fleckenstein’s had not
made the banana split paczki in
three years.
“I saw the banana split on the
menu and he said they hadn’t
made it in a while,” Bacon said.
“I asked if he would consider
redoing that one so we can pair
the beer with it and he said ‘absolutely.’”
Arrowhead will also tap a limited
amount of the strawberry
variant at 1 p.m. the day of the release.
The chocolate and banana
split variants will be available on
tap and in 16-ounce canned two
packs ($17, 10.2 percent ABV).
The first 100-150 drafts bought
will be paired with a paczki.
Bacon is excited for the banana
split to release, especially
after Fleckenstein’s brought the
doughnuts back.
Arrowhead owner Mike Bacon (left) and assistant brewer Drew Decker pose for a photo holding a
banana split paczki and an Arrowhead stout. Photos by Sean Hastings/22nd Century Media
Pictured are Fleckenstein’s banana split paczki doughnuts.
“The biggest thing that stands
out about that beer compared
to others is all the stuff that’s in
it,” Bacon said. “We’re playing
with bananas, we’re playing with
strawberries, we’re playing with
nuts, we’re playing with chocolate
and trying to have an equal
balance of all that to pull off the
banana split flavor effect in a big,
strong stout.”
Because a product used to
make the beer is produced in the
same factory that produces nut
products, Bacon advises against
drinking it if one has a nut allergy.
Fleckenstein’s owner Ray
Fleckenstein, and Bacon play
two completely different games
— doughnuts and beer — but the
two pull it off. Though the two
are familiar with long lines in
waiting for their products. Paczki
day was Feb. 25, and last year,
Fleckenstein’s sold 17,400 paczkis
between the two stores.
“I think it is a really cool
thing,” Fleckenstein said. “I was
[at Arrowhead] last year to see
that many people lined up ahead
for it. They’re all connoisseurs,
giving him comments on it. It was
a really interesting thing like that
for me to see because I haven’t
seen anything like that before.
I remember at the end, he asked
‘are we doing this again next
year?’ I said, ‘yeah, we’ll do it.’”
The collaboration started because
of an “out of the blue” email
from Bacon to Fleckenstein. The
two met and Fleckenstein hopped
on board and “the rest is history.”
“I said ‘what the heck, let’s
give it a try and see how it turns
out,’” Fleckenstein said.
“I love the fact that we’re teaming
up with local businesses that
are completely different from
what we do,” Bacon added.
“With Fleckenstein’s, being that
they opened in New Lenox, and
this paczki idea, they do really,
really well with paczki sales.”
While the two make and sell
different products, both need to
find the same level of creativity.
Keeping the collaboration local,
is something both Bacon and
Fleckenstein are proud of.
“We did this to express creatively
what we set out to do,”
Bacon said, adding that he knew
when he opened Arrowhead that
opportunities like this would be
possible, he just had to find the
right people.
The release party on Saturday
will also feature a classic New
Orleans menu with live music
from musician Joey Kar from
noon-2:30 p.m.
Bacon calls the whole experience
gratifying and that it is reassuring
to see that people are on
board with the local team up of
people to do something outside
the box.
“Between beers and paczkis,
and food and music, we’re just
going to ride the day out and see
where it takes us,” Bacon said.