“Just give me all the bacon and eggs you have. Wait, wait. I'm worried what you just heard was, ‘Give me a lot of bacon and eggs.’ What I said was, ‘Give me all the bacon and eggs you have.’ Do you understand?” - Ron Swanson

Bacon and I have never had a complicated relationship. It has always been delicious and I have always enjoyed eating it. Whether it is the no frills standard cut from Dillon’s, thicc cut from Yoder Meats, or sweet peppered bacon on cheese fries, I have always found myself gravitating to bacon. I am not unique by any means in my interest in bacon, but you know 1/2 of the Pig Out Bros has to get down on some bacon from time to time (and obviously Big Klotz eats bacon, too).

So, when my mom emailed me in early February letting me know that Hartman Arena was putting together the annual Bacon, Bourbon & Brews event I made sure to mark it on my calendar immediately and let my (then) pregnant wife Emily know we were getting babysitters for July 9, 2022. The idea for this blog and platform had not even crossed my mind yet, I just knew I needed three of my favorite things all under one roof (bacon, beer, and my wife in no particular order - although bourbon is definitely up there, too).

So, we got ourselves babysitters in the form of my in laws (who even came to our house!) and my mom picked us up to take us to and from the event. That is right, this year’s event was sponsored by both Hartman Arena and also the #GrandparentsOfTheYear.

We bought VIP tickets which were more than worth the extra $33 ($35 for regular, $68 for VIP). We got to get in a full hour early, the bourbon tasting was included (extra for regular tickets), a private BLT bar, and a private Bloody Mary bar. Every ticket came with beer samples of over 75 beers, a commemorative pint glass, live entertainment, and obviously bacon. While all the extra perks were nice, being able to get there an hour early and have way more freedom to check out all the booths (especially the popular options before they ran out of their products) was incredibly worth it. We were feeling in a pretty good spot between the drinks and food by 4 when the gates opened up to non-VIP.

We started by sampling different brews and bacon dishes to kind of wet our whistles, mostly because there was a line for the BLT bar. We finally hopped in line for BLTs after about 20 minutes and made some delicious sandwiches. You can see the bacon picture from the buffet above but they had thick cut, pecan, and jalapeño bacon options. All three were delicious but the jalapeño definitely had a pretty hot kick (which we made the mistake of trying a sample before we walked up the steps to the BLT area). Along with the bacon was bread, lettuce, and tomato (BLT through and through). They had some condiment options as well including mayo and mustard, but we both had to get the garlic mayo which SLAPPED. I am so glad we decided to plus up the sandwich with the garlic mayo, it turned an already great sandwich into something really special. I ate it before I took any pictures so my apologies.

After the BLT bar, I had to go to the other side and get a Bloody Mary. I am a big Bloody Mary guy in general, but when I have the chance to customize it to my liking, I am there. Emily is not the biggest Bloody Mary fan (kind of a Bloody Mary hater honestly) so I got one alone. It was a fairly standard Bloody Mary but it hit the spot after the garlic mayo BLT and had me re-energized for the rest of the event.

Obviously, (3YUM6) primarily covers local food and beverage options, but I would be remiss if I did not include the bourbon/whiskey from Leopold Bros. We had to try the Rocky Mountain Peach and New York Apple options and we were thrown at how good they were! Established in 1999 they are right down the road from us in Denver and we might be checking out the distillery when we visit next month. I have not checked the local liquor stores to see who carries it but I think I' have seen it at Central Market Wine & Spirits. Speaking of other not so local yet notable places that were represented but still put on a good show were Goose Island, Jim Beam, Odell Brewing, New Belgium, and Sierra Nevada.

Okay now for the main event - the bacon and the brews. I will start with the bacon and post pictures as we go. There were a lot of tasty options, but I am going to tell you about my favorites. First up was The Famous #8 Sandwich from The Artichoke. Turkey, Swiss and cream cheese, lettuce and tomato, grilled on an onion hoagie, topped with Italian dressing and Parmesan cheese and, of course, bacon. This delicious bite of sandwich had all the textures and flavors you need in a sandwich and I know I will be finding myself down at The Artichoke soon to hear some live music and order a full sandwich (or several if we can convince them to do a Pig Out Bros segment). Any sandwich, pizza, bagel, or other that includes cream cheese has me showing up.

Next up on my list was a tasty little dessert from Lost In The Sauce. Technically not a food truck in the (316) but it is the perfect option for our subsidiary (7ATE5) to check out for future reviews. They put together an ice cream that had bourbon, bacon, caramel, and apple and it tasted exactly like you would imagine. The sweetness of the caramel and apple mixed with the saltiness of bacon was a great start, but that bourbony after taste? Holy cow did we have several of them because they were a little melty and going down like shots. They said they hang out in McPherson most of the time but they do make trips down to Wichita from time to time so make sure to give them a follow and check them out when they come through.

While both of the above options were strong contenders for my favorite bacon dish this year, the winner for me, Emily, and apparently everyone was from Avivo Brick Over Pizzeria. They won this year’s competition with their Torta Di Formaggio - cream cheese topped with homemade pesto sauce and roasted red peppers, served with pizza crust chips and of course they added some bacon. Like I said earlier, you put some cream cheese on it and I am IN. We kind of described it as a nacho bite the way it looked and felt eating it. Little baby pizza nacho bites really. The cream cheese hit hard but the basil from the pesto cut in quick to add a great opposite taste. I am just hoping we can add the bacon when we eat in the restaurant! And possibly stay tuned for a future podcast, perhaps…

There were a ton of local(ish) breweries that came through to make up the 75+ options: Wichita Brewing Co, Hopping Gnome, River City Brewing, Three Rings Brewery, Walnut River, Sand Hills, Third Place Brewing, Defiance, and Tallgrass Brewing Co to name (I hope) all of them. I had delicious beers from all the above, but found ourselves hanging around Hopping Gnome, RCB, Third Place Brewing tapwagon (as I am calling it) because they are some of our favorites and we could sit near by.

While there were several beers I have tried before, there were some interesting new options I had not yet sampled. And although our friends over at Hopping Gnome took first place this year (check out our podcast with them if you would be so kind) my favorite new beer (to me) I had was from WBC but also technically a Tallgrass Brewing original. The Key Lime Pie beer they have put together that is unfortunately a seasonal was incredible. It tasted just like a proper key lime pie should taste and would be perfect for any hot summer Wichita day. I do not know if I could consume a ton of them in one setting, but I will definitely be getting a six pack before summer is over.

Hartman Arena is a great spot to put on an event like this - there is a lot of room for several booths on the main floor, a place for the big stage for live entertainment, and the upstairs portion for even more options. But with it being such a large space, we were pooped by the end of our time there, so we decided to find some seats (which are plentiful in the stands) right by the tapwagon while we waited for my mom to come get us. I have loved my wife for many years now, but there was something special about seeing her triple fisting three different types of beer in her (3YUM6) shirt.

All in all, what a great event that was put on! A big thank you to Morgan and the whole Hartman Arena team for doing such an awesome job putting it together and I am already excited for next year’s event. One thing I did not mention is there was a bacon eating competition that took place and we are hoping one of the Pig Out Bros will be competing in next year’s event. So gear up for the event and some big eats coming soon…