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Musings On Incorporating Wine Into Beer

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I am not going to go as far as saying that combining wine and beer is a trend nor is it a terribly new idea. But, I have noticed in 2011 that such combinations have become more common and often with impressive results. Of course, the manner in which they are combined is extremely important. I have seen beers that directly used grapes in their recipe. More often, I have noticed brewers aging beers in wine barrels. The purposeful of specific use of wine yeasts in beers has also been done by many brewers to great effect. I have also noticed that beers brewed with grapes or aged in wine barrels tend to come from really high end brewers like Cantillon, Anchorage Brewing Company or Mikkeller. I believe this is due to several reasons such as the skill of the brewer, the brewery’s emphasis on innovation and experimentation as well as the price tag (I am sure used wine barrels are not cheap, plus the time and resources it takes to age such beers must add up quickly). Here are a few examples of the incorporation of wine in brewing that I noticed. I am sure I have missed many excellent examples and am genuinely curious, please feel free to and add your thoughts and experiences!

Cantillon St. Lamvinus- The St. Lamvinus was brewed with merlot and cabernet-franc grapes that were soaked in Bourdoux barrels that contained 2-3 year old lambics. I have one of these babies sitting in my cellar, but have not yet tried it. Considering Cantillon’s steller reputation and the uniqueness of this beer, I am extremely excited for the moment that I decide to open it.

He’Brew Rejewvenator (Year Of The Grape) 2010- This beer was brewed with concord grapes. I have not tried it but I regret that I missed my opportunity. Schmaltz has yet to let me down with their innovative and impressive beers.

Dogfish Head Midas Touch- Midas Touch was based on residue found in drinking vessels from King Midas’s tomb which included muscat grapes. Proving, this idea is by no means “new”.

Allagash Victoria Ale- According to their website, Allagash used over 200lbs of chardonnay grapes in brewing this beer/wine fusion.

Paeleman Brewery Druivenbier- I will be honest, I am not familiar with this beer but a quick Google search leads to a page from HomeBrewTalk about grape beers. This Belgian beer was apparently one of the first modern beer/wine fusions in 2005.

Saint Somewhere Cynthiana- This month’s Michael Jackson’s Rare Beer Club selection, Saint Somewhere Cynthiana is a Belgian style ale brewed with Cynthiana grapes. This is even more interesting because Cynthiana grapes tend to come from the less prestigeous wine producing states such as Missouri, Illinois, Florida and so on. So more power to Saint Somewhere for utilizing a unique member of the Vitis aestivalis (compared to Vitis vinifera or Vitis lambruska).

Samuel Adams even included a grape pale ale in its 2007 long shot six pack.

Probably the most common incarnation of beers that are combined with wine are those aged in used wine barrels. A few notorious examples of this are Mikkeller Nelson Sauvin Brut which was aged in sauvignon blanc barrels and used Champagne Yeast (amongst other yeasts). Stone Brewing Company’s 2007 Old Guardian barley wine was aged in red wine barrels. Anchorage Brewing Company’s Bitter Monk and Love Buzz were both aged in wine barrels. Mikkeller included a red wine barrel aged beer and a white wine barrel aged beer in his Black Hole series. Russian River Brewing Company aged their Temptation and Supplication in chardonnay and pinot noir barrels respectively. Even Springfield’s new brewery Mother’s Brewing Company aged a batch of Foggy Notion barley wine in sherry barrels. The list goes on and on. While these beers are not super common and do not have their own category in the ranking systems, they are interesting and worth trying out!

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