Hey all! Hope you’ve been surviving the heat and humidity haha. It ain’t easy in our little warehouse brewery but the patio and access to more cold beer than a small army could drink helps. I wanted to take the time to shine our spotlight on the return of a staff favorite variant of our reoccurring fruit beer. This one happens to hold a bit of extra significance to me as it was inspired by one of my all time favorite fruit beers. So I’d like to share with you some of my personal thoughts and inspirations on Kill Your Idles: Red Berry!
Wading though the craft beer landscape can every once in a while provide you with a “wow” moment. It’s what a lot of us are looking for, again and again. When flavor, aroma, mouthfeel, finish or even the moment with a well made beer just seems to resonate with your senses in this perfect harmony. Like discovering your new favorite album, it can be euphoric. For me, one such beer was Strawberry Rhubarb by Wisconsin’s very own New Glarus Brewing. I’ve had fruit beer but never in my life had I had a beer that made my head think I was drinking a liquid strawberry pie. I was floored. I was sitting in a room with friends with a dumb smile on my face just staring at that glass of opaque red liquid. It made it’s mark on my journey into craft beer. So fast-forward to about a year ago when we developed this recipe of a kettle soured and fruited ale, I knew I had to take my shot to see if I could capture all that rich juicy and berry goodness.
In an effort to continue to be an honest and self critical brewer, I’ll admit I think our first batch fell short. Between strawberries not usually possessing a very intense flavor on their own and our early caution in producing fruit beers, I think we undercut how much fruit we needed to deliver that powerful hit of flavor. This time, we fixed that. We made sure to amp our strawberry additions and cut it will a restrained amount of raspberry; providing ample soft sweet fruit character with a touch of added tartness in the back from the raspberries. I’ll never say it’ll put that same dumbstruck smile on my face as the New Glarus strawberry beer, but I’m certainly still smiling when I sip on this batch of KYI: Red Berry.
Pair this beer with saltier cheeses, like a crumbly feta or cotija. As a fruit beer, it lends itself wonderfully to tropical inspired dishes like spicy jerked meats. Now that it’s in cans, this beer pairs perfectly with poolside days. So come by the Taproom, pick up a 4 pack, find a pool and maybe you’ll find a “wow” moment along the way yourself. Cheers! — Lead Brew Brett Bauer
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