Following the success of its Feral collab Walrus Tears, Perth CBD American BBQ joint Old Faithful has collaborated with Mash Brewing to create a beer designed to complement its low and slow cooked meat. And, while the saison base beer gets an adjunct laden overhaul, there remains a delicate balance of the classic style. Indeed, balance seems to the key to these increasingly frequent collaborations.
Sweet, floral saison esters intertwine with lemony aromas while smoke characters are restrained like a narrative hook that doesn’t give the plot away. Herbal notes float in and out as it warms, with sweet and dry characteristics playfully running the length of the palate, anchored by a tight but subtle bitterness. A soft vegetable character lingers in the background from the 15 kilograms of beetroot that was added to the mash.
Interestingly, the acids in the mash broke down the colour pigments in the beetroot, leaving the nascent beer looking like a hazy lager. To restore the beet stained hue, a further five kilograms of beetroot was added along with kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, lemon and lime peel and lemon thyme in a process that has been dubbed “dry-beeting”.
Once again, Old Faithful owner and ex-Captain America artist Rob Paolucci has created one of the more colourful decals released this year and, proving that the fun hasn’t stopped, venue staff are now sporting Mash t-shirts tie-dyed with the spent grain and adjuncts...
Beet Down is now available for a limited time from Mash's "Swan Valley" brewpub and Old Faithful.
Guy Southern
Published March 17, 2018 2018-03-17 00:00:00
