Miller High Life Dive Bar Hot Sauce Review: A Spicy Match Made In Dive Bar Heaven

Light beer? Good. Hot sauce? Also good. Combined? You can probably see where we're going. Take two things that are usually found in the same setting (how often have you drizzled hot sauce on a plate of wings while sipping a frosty beer?) and put them together. You're bound to have a match made in heaven, right? That was at least the idea for Miller High Life and Hot N Saucy when the two brands decided to collaborate on the latter's latest offering: Dive Bar Hot Sauce.

While Hot N Saucy doesn't have quite the same longevity as Miller High Life, the brand has definitely made a name for itself, with vegetable-based and vegan hot sauces that have appeared in places like Hot Ones Season 14 and on Oprah's Favorite Things gift list. Now, this latest creation from owner Chef Sam Davis-Allonce and Miller High Life hopes to capture the flavors and feel of your favorite dive bar. So, how does it stand up? Let's find out.

If you're familiar with the Hot N Saucy brand at all, you know that this hot sauce doesn't contain just your average hot sauce ingredients: peppers, vinegar, and spices. Instead, it brings in more unusual and exciting ingredients, like beets, carrots, collard greens, and black garlic.

The same is true for the new Dive Bar Hot Sauce. Highlight ingredients include chipotle peppers marinated in adobo, lemon pepper juice, and carrot juice — oh, and of course, Miller High Life beer. In a release, Miller High Life noted that each of these ingredients is intended to mimic a part of the dive bar experience — chipotle heat just like neon signs, lemon pepper juice reminiscent of wings, and carrot juice reminiscent of bar food finger-licking goodness.

Miller High Life beer is the very first ingredient on the bottle's ingredients list, so you've got to assume that the beer makes up the majority of the sauce's mass. Other ingredients listed include sugar, pepper, and garlic. The ingredients list also clarifies that the adobo mixture that the chipotle peppers were marinated in additionally contained tomato purée and vinegar.

Unfortunately, in the food world, you often pay dearly for originality. Dive Bar Hot Sauce costs $12 for a 5-fluid-ounce bottle (in a cutesy twist, that's the same price as a 12-pack of Miller High Life). This is just a few dollars more than Hot N Saucy's typical lineup, with classic bottles of Hot N Saucy's original flavors going for $10 through the Hot N Saucy website (though it's worth noting that Hot N Saucy hot sauces are $12 across the board when you purchase them through Amazon).

Now, I know that specialty food products, especially the ones only available for a limited time, always cost more. However, this Dive Bar Hot Sauce costs about quadruple what you'd pay for the standard bottles of hot sauce you likely have in your fridge right now. A 5-ounce bottle of Tabasco? $3.79 at Target. A 12-ounce bottle of Frank's RedHot? Less than $4 at Target — for 12 ounces! Melinda's hot sauce? Less than $5 for 12 ounces at Target.

Dive Bar Hot Sauce becomes available to purchase on the Hot N Saucy website starting on April 29 at 12 p.m. EST. Unfortunately, it looks like that's the only place it will be available, and it's only available so long as supplies last. However, if you absolutely have to get your hands on a bottle of this specialty sauce, you can enter to win a bottle. Miller High Life is hosting a sweepstakes, and, for your chance to win a bottle of Dive Bar Hot Sauce, all you have to do is enter your email address, name, date of birth, and address. 

No luck with the sweepstakes? You can, of course, try all of the other Hot N Saucy hot sauces by purchasing them on the Hot N Saucy website or on Amazon. Hot N Saucy products are also available at HomeGoods, T.J. Maxx, and Marshalls.

No, don't worry. You're not going to get buzzed off your hot sauce, no matter how much Dive Bar Hot Sauce you happen to use. The label specifically mentions that the sauce, despite its high Miller High Life content, does not actually contain alcohol (though, the label mentions that the sauce is still for those 21-and-up only, so make of that what you will).

Otherwise, the hot sauce is pretty straightforward. There's no fat, no sodium, and less than a gram of added sugar. The nutrition label is basically a big, long list of zeroes. That's honestly great news when you look at similar sauces that you might use on your wings, fries, or other favorite bar foods. For example, Frank's RedHot Creamy Buffalo Sauce comes packed with 420 milligrams of sodium per tablespoon, which is nearly 20% of your daily allotted sodium intake; that's not exactly a great deal for your heart, even though Frank's might be a better deal for your wallet.

Okay — let's get to the actual important stuff: How does it taste? Beyond the limited availability, the price tag, and all the rest, is it good? Absolutely. I consider myself a pretty casual hot sauce consumer. I like it. I'll put it on my eggs, mac 'n cheese, or chicken. I always have a few bottles of different varieties in my fridge. However, this hot sauce could turn me from a casual consumer into a straight-up fan. I think it's because it accomplishes exactly what the Hot N Saucy brand strives to do: make a hot sauce with "a quality kick without compromising on flavor."

It has the kick, but the flavor is so much more — tangy, a little sweet, smoky, and kind of addictive. I found myself continuously reaching for the bottle for more as I tried it on a range of favorite foods that pair well with hot sauce and alongside a bottle of Miller High Life. That said, did I try this hot sauce and immediately think "dive bar"? No, and I couldn't really taste anything that would lead me to believe the sauce was made with Miller High Life. However, I won't hold that against it. I'd buy it — so long as supplies last.

This hot sauce was sampled solo to properly judge its texture and full flavor profile, including heat and whether or not you can actually taste that Miller High Life. However, since you're probably not going to eat your hot sauce just on its own, the author also paired the sauce with some of their favorite casual and bar foods, including fries, chicken fingers, tacos, and tortilla chips, to see how it held up when actually in use. 

Miller High Life provided the author with a complimentary bottle of Dive Bar Hot Sauce ahead of launch for reviewing purposes.