snakeplissken

I'm working on bacon beer.. The major obstacle is replicating the savory flavors that are associated with the salt and fat. Salt works in small quantities in beer depending on the style, but not so much when it's in a quantity where the flavor is detectable as salt. Also, that level will probably have detrimental side-effects on the yeast. Possibly a slow, sluggish start or not at all.

Oils simply don't work at all as they destroy head retention in a beer. A long boil could perhaps be employed to denature some of the lipids, but even then there is a marked loss of lacing and retention in the end. If one was to cook the bacon first, fairly well as to remove a lot of the fat, I think it would work. The smoked character is easy to get as rauchmalt is widely available. Not a problem.

Maple syrup would work well to add a more familiar sweet quality, but it's easily fermentable, so if the yeast eats it all up it won't contribute much flavor. Well then, we need to make it a more complicated sugar. Get a pan nice and screaming hot and ladle it right in. That should caramelize the maple syrup, both replicating a cooked flavor and making it much less fermentable, leading to a greater flavor contribution.

The beer base itself will probably just have to be plain english two-row. This way when you mash it warm you can get a nice, full, rich mouthfeel. That should help to replicate the substance and richness of fat and fill in the gaps in flavor.

It may work, it may not. But I've got to try.