Shiner's Stash Jerky - Bacon & Swiss

Shiner's Stash Jerky is a brand launched by Swen Altis, based out of Conover, NC. Marketed with the tagline, "Made in the foothills of North Carolina", Altis started Shiner's Stash in 2016 after a successful career as an executive chef, working in professional sports for major league baseball teams, hockey teams, and football teams.

Shiner's Stash uses 100% Prime Beef Eye-Round & Pork Loin, sliced thick and cut against the grain. They make all their jerky themselves, in their own USDA inspected facility, as opposed to contracting it out to a co-packer. They currently have 19 varieties of beef and pork jerky.

This Bacon & Swiss variety is described by company as a combination of, "leanest of Choice beef, Applewood Smoked Bacon, & Swiss", going on to say that its their, "Golden Seal of jerky".


Ingredients

Beef, round, eye of round, roast, boneless, separable lean only, trimmed to 0 fat, select raw cheese, pasteurized process swiss, bacon, parmesan, water, cheddar cheese, whey, buttermilk, salt, butter, disodium phosphate, annatto extract and beta carotene, beef base, potassium sorbate, black pepper, sea salt, garlic powder, onion powder, coriander

Review

The first flavor I pick up on this is a light salt mixed into a light fatty/oily taste. There's a cheesy flavor that comes on right away. The chewing brings on a saucy, natural meat flavor much like roast beef dipped into aus jus, but laced with a light black pepper.

For being named, "Bacon & Swiss", it holds up somewhat. The bacon part is hard to identify in flavor, though I can see plenty of bacon bits stuck to the cheese. The Swiss part is well represented in both visual and flavor. There is clearly a swiss cheese flavor throughout the chewing, more of the mild variety than the sharp.

Otherwise, the primary taste profile is that of roast beef dipped in aus jus with a light black pepper seasoning, along with a well-noticed swiss cheese flavor. You'll get a fair amount of fatty/oily flavor from both the marbleized cuts of beef and the cheese.

The chewing texture is very meaty, yet semi-moist. It actually takes on a steak-like feel once chewed down soft, comparable to something cooked well-done. The pieces are easy to bite off, and yield nothing stringy or unchewable.

Verdict

This Bacon & Swiss beef jerky from Shiner's Stash delivers a decadent snackability through its heavy layer of melted swiss over a beefy, natural meat flavor. The bacon bits don't offer much taste even though they are easily visible on these pieces. Instead, this jerky is largely about the loads of shredded swiss melted on to slabs of beef jerky. The jerky itself is plain, perhaps to help bring out the bacon & swiss flavors. What I really like in this is the fatty flavor that comes from the marbleized cuts of round, it really brings out the taste of real beef. And with the light dusting of black pepper, and the heaps of shredded cheese, it reminds me of my college days, living off cheesesteak sandwiches from the campus café.

Rating: Good (4/5)