PopUp Bagels X Blue Moon Beer Bagel With Valencia Orange Cream Cheese Review: Three Cheers For The Schmear

What happens when you make bagels with beer? Such a sudsy, extra yeasty idea isn't exactly a new phenomenon; recipes for the fusion have been kicking around since at least the early '70s, with many bakers rising to the challenge. Today, popular craft brewer Blue Moon is lending its beer to the buzzy New York/Connecticut bagel makers at PopUp in a collaboration that is sure to raise eyebrows and open the minds of both bagel and beer enthusiasts alike. For a limited time only, the fine folks at PopUp Bagels are giving the world Blue Moon Beer Bagels. And what's a bagel without a schmear, right? As an added bonus, and in a nod to the Belgian White beer's garnish, the bagel is served with an inspired side of Valencia Orange Cream Cheese.

When life hands you the opportunity to indulge in Blue Moon Beer Bagel and Valencia Orange Cream Cheese by PopUp Bagels, you should probably take it, right? Well, I got my hands on some of these hot new items and am ready to reveal in this chew and review if they deserve three cheers or a full round of jeers.

Some recommendations are based on first-hand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

I'm not sure how far these bagels traveled, but my half-dozen were still piping hot upon arrival. I've never had the pleasure of eating PopUp Bagels before, but founder Adam Goldberg said that the beer bagels have "our same great signature crumb and texture, with a hint of orange and malt bringing forward a unique flavor." 

I received two of each flavor: plain, salt, and everything. They were not overtly big; their exteriors were fantastically crunchy to munch on. The bagels' interior consisted of a pillowy light texture. While most bagels are enjoyed sliced in half, these are so soft that it's best to just pull them apart by hand, like a pretzel, and dip them in the cream cheese. They didn't have the hoppy trace of beer or notes of orange that I expected; they simply tasted like fantastic bagels.

While I thought maybe the Valencia orange cream cheese would be DayGlo orange, it turned out to be a normal swirl of the white, whipped-like spread. Digging a little deeper, I found actual bits of orange pith, proving this cream cheese was indeed the real deal. To test the true flavor of the Valencia orange cream cheese, I started with the plain beer bagel as a blank slate for dipping. Those dips and bites revealed a zesty hint of orange, which thankfully was restrained, keeping this concoction from being a full-on creamsicle. The salt and everything bagels actually brought the orange flavor out even more so.

All three Blue Moon Beer Bagels flavors are made of the basic ingredients of flour, yeast, water, sugar, salt, and Blue Moon beer. The salt and everything bagels contain additional seasonings. The Valencia Orange Cream Cheese is made of actual Valencia oranges, cream cheese, and confectioner sugar.

A serving size is a single beer bagel, which is 110 grams. The plain bagel nets 311 calories, 1 gram of fat, 498 milligrams of sodium, 54 grams of carbohydrates (1.9 of which is fiber, 6 are sugars), and 11 grams of protein. The bagel contains wheat allergens.

The Blue Moon Beer Bagel and Valencia Orange Cream Cheese are currently available for pre-order pick-up from New York City and Connecticut locations of PopUp Bagels. The Thompson Street location in Manhattan will also have them for sale in-store daily beginning November 29 at 6 a.m., while supplies last. 

The beer bagels are available in three flavors: plain, everything, and salt. Pre-orders for pick up are $42, and include a dozen bagels and two schmears. If you are purchasing in-store, a minimum order is $12, which includes three bagels and a schmear of your choosing. Six bagels and a schmear retail for $22. 

While Valencia Orange Cream Cheese is a the suggested pairing for the beer bagels, customers are free to pick any schmear they like, which currently includes Brown Butter, Scallion, and Plain cream cheeses. No actual bottles of Blue Moon beer are included in the sale. 

For those who don't live near a PopUp Bagels location, you can also order the beer bagels online and have them shipped anywhere in the mainland U.S. and Canada. For a flat $50 fee, a dozen assorted beer bagels and a container schmear will be shipped overnight.

PopUp Bagels' irreverent motto is "Not famous, but known," but that may have to change in the near future as its delicious bagels start to gain more and more attention. The bagel makers already have fans in such celebrity noshers as Paul Rudd (who is also an investor), Maya Rudolph, Donald Glover, and Chris Rock, and this beer bagel collaboration with Blue Moon is sure to raise PopUp Bagels' profile even further.  

Even though I thought the Blue Moon Beer Bagels would yield more of a yeasty, hoppy, barley, or malty taste to them, I guess it was for the better that they just tasted like awesome bagels that I can't wait to try again. The real standout star here proved to be the Valencia Orange Cream Cheese. Fruit and dairy aren't always the best partners, but this cream cheese has just the right balance of flavors. PopUp Bagels created such a lively cream cheese that it's a shame it will only live such a short life. Borrowing and tweaking the quote in the origin story that gave birth to Blue Moon's name, I'd like to declare that "a cream cheese this good only comes around once in a blue moon."