Crafty's not allowed to drink at the minute (there's a good reason) so it's over to the brewer's notes for the latest intriguing limited release beer from Red Duck. It's a hybrid beer – a combination of Belgian witbier and the uber-rare Berliner Weisse, an acidic, tart style of wheat beer that is deliberately soured – made with rhubarb and raspberry and therefore pink.
Scott says: "At Red Duck we wanted to pay homage to Berliner Weisse, but wanted a very light tartiness, no sourness, and we didn't want to achieve this by adding lactobacillicus or lactic acid."
He started with a wit/weisse beer base, used a soft English ale yeast to avoid spice and extra alcohol formation, and added a lot of Raspberry & Rhubarb Jam.
"When the sugars from the Raspberry & Rhubarb jam are stripped out during fermentation, the true flavours are no longer masked by sweetness," he adds. "The result is a very lightly coloured, soft pinky white ale, cloudy and very slightly tart."
Published December 13, 2010 2010-12-13 00:00:00
