JJ's Red Hots, local beer vendors brew up top dogs

Recently, JJ's Red Hots and local breweries and bottlers had some fun touting the idea that hot dogs and beer go well together.

Through the seven-week "Brew Dogs" adventure, the group collaborated to create signature hot dogs, using beer as a key ingredient. JJ's locations in Dilworth and Ballantyne sold each signature dog and the creator's beer on tap for a week.

"The initial idea is 'We're a small business, you're a small business,'" says JJ's owner and co-founder Jon Luther. "They're creative people, we're creative people, let's come up with something and have fun with it." "...We have complementary products, and complementary customer bases, too. Their customers are our customers, and vice versa."

The top seller? The BeerBQ hotdog, inspired by Triple C Brewing Company. JJ's locations sold 237 of the dogs featuring pulled pork, crunchy onions and Triple C's smoked amber ale used for the BBQ sauce.

Here are the other beer ventures involved, along with their hotdog creations and numbers sold. And click here to see photos of all the dogs.

The Unknown Brewing Co., The Dog Without Boundaries, featuring beer cheese, bacon, Sriracha and fried okra (fried in batter made with their Over the Edge beer). 187 sold.

NoDa Brewing Co., DogMadChad, featuring bacon, grilled onion and peppers, sweet pickle chips and mustard made with NoDa Stout. 148 sold.

Charlotte Beer Blog (charlottebeer.com), Put That In Your Pipe, featuring bacon, smoked cheddar, red onion, smoked jalapeño ketchup. 140 sold.

The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, Doppel Dog, featuring JJ's house-made bratwurst, copperkraut ( traditional sauerkraut steeped in OMB's Copper Ale and anise seed), beer mustard and fried jalapeños. 127 sold.

Good Bottle Co., Goodness Gracious, Great Dogs on Fire!, featuring chili, bacon, jalapeño and corn salsa, tabasco and Andy Capp hot fries (from the packaged snack). 94 sold.

Salud Beer Shop, La Dominicana, with plantain chips, onions, banana peppers and BBQ sauce. 80 sold.