Soft pretzels from Foulmouthed Brewing, left, and Hunt & Alpine Club. Photos by Aimsel Ponti

WHAT: Soft pretzel

WHERE: Foulmouthed Brewing, 15 Ocean St., South Portland, foulmouthedbrewing.com; Portland Hunt & Alpine Club, 75 Market St., Portland, huntandalpineclub.com

PRICE: $11 at Foulmouthed, $10 at Hunt & Alpine

PRESENTATION: Foulmouthed’s The Big F#%&in’ Pretzel is made with brewer’s grains and served with honey mustard and beer cheese. Portland serves its Pretzel + Pickle with a Morse’s pickle and beer mustard.

SIZE: After getting over the initial shock of how giant the Foulmouthed pretzel was, I looked at my dining companion and we both ripped off good-sized chunks of the still warm dough. A few days later, I plunked down at the bar at Portland Hunt & Alpine Club for the hot pretzel. Although it wasn’t as huge as the Foulmouthed one (honestly, I can’t imagine a pretzel much larger than that one), it was plenty big.

TEXTURE: I was surprised at how light and airy the Foulmouthed dough was and how easy it went down. The Hunt & Alpine one, on the other hand, was quite dense with a satisfying chew.

ACCOUTREMENTS: I alternated dunking pieces of the Foulmouthed pretzel in the mustard and cheese, and both were flavorful. The Hunt & Alpine pretzel was delicious dipped in the beer mustard, and a few bites of the pickle added to its salty flavor profile, which lingered in my mouth long after I finished it.