Butterfly Bakery of Vermont – Vienna Lager Mustard Hot Sauce
This sauce holds a special place in my heart. Not only is it the first sauce I ever tasted from Butterfly Bakery of Vermont, it’s one of the first craft hot sauces of any makers that I purchased myself.
I love mustard, I love beer, and I love hot sauce. This sauce is a perfect blend of all three. Combining the fruity and full flavor of ripe red serranos, the maltiness of Von Trapp Vienna Lager, and the piquancy of mustard mixed with vinegar creates a symphony of flavors that go well with a surprising number of foods.
Some of the things I appreciate about Butterfly Baker of Vermont’s sauces aside from the great flavors are they they have nice easy flowing consistencies that make adding them to a variety of foods easy (so many craft sauces are extremely thick these days) and their continued commitment to making sauces with locally grown organic ingredients picked at the height of the season, and using just enough elements to make the sauce shine.
Chef Alex Guarnaschelli often quotes designer Coco Chanel, famous for recommending to look in the mirror and take off one accessory before leaving the house, but in the context of food – when you’re plating a dish, remove one element before you serve. I believe that holds true for host sauces as well, as many fall victim to the sins of muddying flavors by including too many elements. Thus far I have not had a Butterfly Bakery of Vermont sauce that has tasted like it had anything extraneous.
Overall the flavor of this sauces is a perfect balance between the serranos, mustard, and vinegar. It’s not pepper forward, it’s not mustard forward, it’s not vinegar forward, it’s perfect harmony. That makes this sauce work anywhere mustard works – hot dogs, sandwiches, stirred into stews, as well as anywhere hot sauces work, pizza, wings, or anywhere else you’d like to add some heat. It’s quite versatile, which makes me go through bottles of this one quickly.
This brings me to a sad point – Butterfly Bakery of Vermont is unfortunately discontinuing this sauce. I’ve secured a case of it for myself, and I highly recommend anyone interested in giving it a try to buy a bottle, and then buy more before they’re all gone.
Ingredients: Familia Farms red serranos, Artesano organic white vinegar, von Trapp Vienna Lager, organic ground yellow mustard seed, salt
Heat Level: 3/10. There’s some heat and warmth, but just a step above your very basic sauces such as Frank’s or Crystal.
