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“Snackless?” No, the Snacklace: an abundance of snacks in the most convenient form: strung around your neck and ready to go. 

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I’d never heard of the Snacklace until I joined Gray Duck Media’s video team and attended my very first Winter Beer Dabbler, the largest craft beer festival in the state of Minnesota. Now 13 years old, the festival has gathered quite the following among locals. Winters in Minnesota are notoriously chilly, with temperatures dropping as low as -16 degrees Fahrenheit and the windchill making it even worse. The coldest temperature ever recorded in the Twin Cities was actually a whopping -34 degrees–with a windchill of -67 (Minnesota DNR).

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Tldr: Minnesotans are subjected to some seriously harsh winters. And what on earth do you do with your weekends when it’s so cold that even your nose hairs freeze? Thankfully Winter Beer Dabbler has you covered. The festival might be outside, but there’s enough beer to keep you warm. This year, I actually got to interview attendees and ask them thought-provoking questions like, “On a scale of 1-10, how drunk are you?"

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My favorite questions, though, were about the legendary Snacklace. While food isn’t technically allowed into the festival, there’s an exception: if you can fit it on a string around your neck, it’ll pass. And because winters in Minnesota are so cold, people end up spending a lot of time inside. So they get really creative––especially with their Snacklaces.

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The best Snacklaces, I learned, are built around a foundation of pretzels: “You gotta have pretzels,” one attendee told me. Naturally brittle, they hold up well on a string––and in cold temperatures. Besides, sodium is key for an afternoon based around drinking. But the best Snacklaces don’t stop there. When asked what makes a good Snacklace, most attendees had the same response: protein. After walking me through the vast array of Funions, Chex Mix and Oreos strung around his neck, one Snacklace-holder explained: “You wanna go for a little bit of sweet and savory. You also need your protein throughout the day, so you get some beef sticks. That’s all you need to know.” Beef sticks, however, are no match for the chicken drumsticks and cans of Spam that I witnessed on some other Snacklaces. With winters being as cold as they are in Minnesota, there are truly no limits on what kinds of food you can wear around your neck: the world is your refrigerator.

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That said, the quality isn’t necessarily gourmet. Which, after a few samples of beer, might not be an issue. One festival-goer, who stored his snacks in small, spherical containers, had some questionable ingredients; notably, cheese curds. While the Snacklace itself was artfully crafted, “the cheese curds do look like they’re a little sad,” my co-interviewer explained. But their appearance didn’t faze the owner: “The temperature keeps ‘em frosty.”

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It would seem, then, that Snacklaces are just as much about show as they are about flavor. For many Beer Dabbler attendees, stringing food around your neck is simply part of the outfit. And the tradition extends beyond Minnesota; in fact, pretzel necklaces have long been synonymous with beer festival culture. According to Julia Herz, former program director at the Brewers Association, which oversees the Great American Beer Festival, “Food is art itself in many forms, and the pretzel necklace is a great convergence of art and food in a very fun form" (Wine Enthusiast).

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But while the pretzel necklace is all about fun and festivities today, its origins are actually steeped in religious tradition. According to The Nashville Oktoberfest, the pretzel necklace dates back to 16th-century Germany, beer-brewing monks wore pretzels around their necks to express their sacred love for beer. Wait––monks making beer?! 

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When the Reinheitsgebot, or “purity law,” was enacted in Bavaria in 1516, brewers found themselves restricted to just three ingredients: barley, water and hops. But as beer grew in popularity, the brewers realized they had enough ingredients to make something else, too: pretzels. Pretzels had been around for centuries, but it was the Reinheitsgebot that brought pretzels and beer together. And for beer-brewing monks, those three ingredients became known as the holy trinity of beer: “They saw the trinity in pretzels, where each hole represented one ingredient and one aspect of the famed religious counterpart. To keep that sacred trinity at heart, 16th-century brewer-monks strung pretzels and wore them around their necks” (Wine Enthusiast).

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Do Minnesotans realize, then, that they're actually upholding a long-lived tradition of hoppy piety? It turns out that Snacklaces are about more than just convenience: they’re an homage to the holy roots of craft brewing. That said, I have yet to see an edible necklace as bold and creative as the Snacklace. When the monks strung holy pretzels around their necks, I doubt they could have ever imagined the chicken drumsticks, Funions, beef sticks and Spam that would follow suit. While Winter Beer Dabbler attendees didn’t create the edible necklace, they’ve definitely contributed to its cultural evolution. 

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So next time you see me walking into work with a bowl of cereal around my neck, know that I’m paying tribute to the 16th-century monks who came before me. Oh, and the Winter Beer Dabbler, of course. 

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Did this article pique your curiosity? Watch the video I made about Snacklaces from this year's Winter Beer Dabbler on Instagram.