Beer Cheese Pretzel Dip

"I love this dip and make it all the time. The only thing I do is use a heaping TBSP of dry chopped onion and I rehydrate it in the beer before I add it to the recipe. I also don't add seasoned salt ..." See moresince the ranch makes it pretty salty. Great with pretzels. You'll never go home with leftovers."

"I made this for a family gathering at Christmas, New Year's and put a bowl out with fresh veggies to hold off the crowd til dinner could get done at Easter. There has never been any leftover. My 8 yea..." See morer old GS said we should just plan on having it "everytime" we get together even when he just comes to visit for a weekend!! Delicious, easy, simple ingredients. Can't ask for more. **UPDATE** Well, here it is late 8/2011 and he's here visiting. He specifically asked that we make this today. Heading to store for another brick of cream cheese. Doing only "half" of this recipe is a complete waste of time in my house!! When kids ask for it by name and dig in with glee with their celery sticks, how can you say no to that kind of celebration!!!"

"At first, I thought this tasted a lot like beer. I scaled the recipe all the way to 7 servings to try out the taste only. I used whipped cream cheese, because it was all I had. I did use a darker beer..." See more, that has a stronger taste, but the recipe didn't specify. Once I let it sit in the fridge for 24 hours, and then dipped pretzels in it, the flavors blended together well. The beer just enhanced the cheese flavors instead of dominating it. It does go great with pretzels. However, I would definitely make it the night before so the cheese has time to absorb the beer and blend right. It will also be much thicker by then and the right consistency for dipping."