Commentist Beer Barrel: Damn Hippies

Austin’s best annual beer event is happening again today. The Draught House Anniversary Party is the kind of shindig that only a decades-old pub and brewery, with a decades-old pub and brewery’s connections, can throw. Every year they roll out a stacked beer list. Everything’s a special release or something aged a few years in their cellar, except for the things that are even better than that. They get their mitts on kegs that you’ll probably never see anywhere else in the state, and occasionally even kegs you’ll never see anywhere else, period, like the 2011 Draught Folie that New Belgium blended from its sour ale foeders especially for the pub and the occasion. That’s where I’ll be this afternoon, and just to rub it in, here’s the beer list*:

As I remember it, the most outstanding beer of last year’s party was Unity Vibration Bourbon Peach Kombucha Ale, and, I was very surprised, some time later, to learn that it’s not exactly, well, a beer. It’s got a lot in common with beer, for certain: It’s made with water, hops, and yeast. But at base, it’s a “fermented tea beverage” called kombucha, without a trace of malted barley in it, popular with crunchy types and widely lauded for a long list of alleged and probably completely spurious health benefits. Nevertheless, it passed for beer when I first had it, and now it’s available in bottles, and it’s the subject of this week’s Beer Barrel because I can do what the hell I want.

The first thing you’ll notice about this is that, even to the naked eye, it only barely resembles beer. It’s a hazy yellow with a maybe a touch of pink, and it completely lacks a traditional head. Instead, it foams up with a thin layer of large bubbles, soda-like, that vanish almost immediately, leaving just a thin white ring hugging the glass. The scent is peachy and aggressively acidic, and those traits are immediately obvious when it hits the tongue as well. But it turns out that’s not all there is to this alleged ale. The nose is that of a light, crisp sour, or maybe a good Italian soda, but there’s a complex, fruity, bourbon-y sweetness on the finish that just invites sip after sip.

I understand if you don’t think this is beer. I’m not sure that I think it’s beer. What I’m here to tell you is: It’s damned good.

lady snow?

lady snow says: I’m going to preface this with: I don’t dislike this beer. But when I first smelled it, the scent that came to mind was cocktail onions. Now, I snacked on cocktail onions as a kid, so I don’t dislike cocktail onions. But after that, I got nail polish. I’ll get to why in a second. Anyway, I took a sip, and it was sweeter than I expected. And it tasted better than I expected, based on how it smelled. So I definitely got the sourness. Kind of vinegar-like, but not in a bad way. A looooot of peach. And then I got the bitterness on the finish. And I think what’s happening to make it smell like nail polish, and even taste like it a bit, is the combination of that hint of bitterness with all the peachy flavor.

make it snow says: Interesting! Not exactly what I got out of it, for sure, but I’m right there with you on the taste being a surprise.

lady snow: I know I’m more familiar with nail polish than you are. That, I think, is the one thing I don’t like about this. Everything else, I like.

make it snow says: What if I told you this isn’t a beer?

lady snow says: Yeah, I would absolutely believe that.

make it snow says: Water, hops, yeast, and no malt, and I think the fact that it’s brewed without any malt probably accounts for the big difference between how sweet it smells and how sweet it tastes.

lady snow says: Yeah, because that difference is pretty vast. And it is a sweet beer. I didn’t get that much of the bourbon. The big flavor here is absolutely peach.

tl;dr: Every once in a while, the best beer is maybe not a beer.

Grade: Regardless of health benefits, do not buttchug.

*There’s also been a late addition to the list, announced on Twitter last night: Green Flash Lustrous Frumento, a barrel-aged coffee stout.

make it snow is an alot of beer who needs a damn vacation. He drank half a bomber of Unity Vibration Bourbon Peach Kombucha Ale, and lady snow drank the other half, and Minnie the cat got none at all. Welcome to DFO’s new collaborators from the Free Ballin’ Football Podcast! Hit us up if you ever need a beer segment.