A Texas Beer

I don't think about beer all the time. Really!

The other night, I was watching Chopped Grill Masters, and frankly, not really paying attention. I was reading. Sorry, Ted.

In one of the challenges, one of the mystery basket ingredients was mesquite syrup. As the word reverberated through my head, my eyes snapped open. What if someone were to use it in a beer?

Then it collided with another thought that I'd been mulling for a while. And what if prickly pear fruit were added as well?

I've had beer made with prickly pear fruit before, and it was sort of "wit-ish", with some Crunch Berries thrown in. I did some Googling (they hate it when you say that) and learned that syrup has a a subtle caramel, vanilla and cinnamon flavor.

Satan's dad has a ranch near Coleman that is covered with mesquite and cactus. We are planning a prickly pear fruit and mesquite harvesting day sometime in September. In case that doesn't pan out, I did find a source for dried beans online. I found Mesquite Bean Syrup by Cheri's Desert Harvest, 12 oz Bottle on Amazon.com, but it is currently out of stock.

I suppose the first step would be to make a beer with mesquite syrup and see what it brings to the party, then add the prickly pear fruit to another batch.

So does anyone have a line on other sources? I have seen the thread at HomeBrewTalk.com, and the one on the BN Forums.