For most folk, it’ll be a crisp lager after a hot summer paddle and a full-bodied ale after a ski. So what if someone told you that you could get both … wait for it … in the SAME BOTTLE.
Yeah, we know!
Proudly wearing the “New Item” badge at Whitehorse Liquor Store, the beer is Inedit, and the crazy kids behind this madness are Barcelona’s S.A. Damm, brewers of the immensely popular Estrella Damm lager.
The creation and back story of Inedit are heavily marketed as the “love story between beer and fine food”, citing that it would fill a gap in the liquor market when it came to beer pairings.
Touting this rationale as groundbreaking (and seemingly forgetting about the mind-blowingly awesome Dogfish Head Raison D’Etre brewed to be the ultimate complement to a steak dinner), they seem to gloss over the most fascinating aspect of this beer: other than a Black and Tan that may sometimes use a light lager rather than a pale ale, marketing a lager/ale combo hasn’t really been done before.
So why would you blend a lager and an ale anyway? In fact, what’s the diff’?
Ales and lagers are essentially treated the same until fermentation: ales are fermented at room temperature all the way through, while lagers start to ferment around 10 degrees C and are then aged close to freezing.
In order for this to work, brewers have to use different yeasts for ales and lagers. These differing yeasts are also responsible for many of the distinct flavours associated with the two styles.
Ale yeast, called top-fermenting because the fermentation action takes place at the top, tends to produce beer that is fruitier and sweeter. Lager yeast, by contrast, ferments on the bottom, and produces beer that is typically clean and dry.
Mixing these two styles of beer produces a taste like (drumroll)…
He said:
Aroma: citrus, wheat and coriander. Smells great, complex and a little Belgian.
Taste: Quite carbonated, but still smooth. A bit spicy, and again, the wheat is there. The list of ingredients names licorice, but thankfully it’s very understated … just the smallest hint. It tastes sweet, but ends clean and dry.
I found myself sipping it slowly like I would a wine, but that could just be that I was afraid of an empty glass. I thought it might be a bit gimmicky, but I really enjoyed this beer.
She said:
I went in blind and didn’t even read the pretty little tag affixed to the neck with red rope before I sipped.
Without knowing what to expect, the wheat aroma was present immediately, as was the citrus.
It was a little off-putting having something cloudy and golden in my wine glass, but after the first sip affirmed it was wheat, I enjoyed every drop.
The carbonation is listed as light, but I found it almost champagne-like. That, coupled with the sweetness, made this feel like a beer for special occasions.
The smooth mouthfeel (courtesy of the wheat) and the dry finish (thank you lager) created a really great wine-like beer. The food pairings listed on the tag would be ideal.
I would give Inedit two thumbs up, plus the bottle was suuuuuper cute.
The label recommends serving Inedit in a white wine glass between 4 and 8 degrees C, which is about 10 minutes out of your fridge. It also says to, between glasses, keep the bottle in a bucket of ice (because everyone has one of those lying around).
You can find this 4.8% fancy-pants brew at Whitehorse Liquor Store; $7.30 gets you 750ml.
Please enjoy this article responsibly.
