Why coffee beers are about to get weird—and delicious.
Like beer, coffee is a beverage that unites. Sigh at other red-eyed, early-morning travelers in line at airport security, state your need for caffeine, and they’ll commiserate. And like beer, it’s varied, with specialty roasters, cold brew techniques and even Keurigs encouraging Americans to think more about our coffee than ever before. So why should coffee beers be a roasty, stout-dominated monolith? Increasingly, they’re not.
To appreciate the new wave of coffee beers, one needn’t rattle off single-origin beans or even know whether they’re brewed, crushed or added to the beer whole. (That’s good news if you can’t tell Yirgacheffe from Siguatepeque and have never owned a Chemex.) Instead, enjoying the new guard requires a pivot toward thinking of coffee as a nuanced ingredient, one carefully chosen like a hop or a yeast strain. Brewers are thinking beyond coffee as merely roasted flavor and are instead using it as a tool to achieve dynamic flavors, aromas, even mouthfeel.
Most visibly, brewers are expanding the styles that coffee can be a part of, introducing coffee to Brett-fermented beers, imperial IPA's and cream ales. They’re building entire recipes around expressive, bright coffees, and the results are far from one-dimensional. It’s not hyperbole; these new coffee beers fully intend to blow your mind.
The best coffee beers, the ones that surprise and beguile, begin before a single bean or grain even hits the brewing tanks. They’re born in the recipe-building stage, right at the drawing board.
Denne historien er fra September - October 2016; 10 Year Anniversiary Issue-utgaven av DRAFT Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra September - October 2016; 10 Year Anniversiary Issue-utgaven av DRAFT Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Irish Moonshine
A tradition of illicit whiskey isn’t unique to the States.
Ditching The Regular Grind
Why coffee beers are about to get weird—and delicious.
Hip Hops
Having ridden freight trains and managed a record label, Brooklyn’s spirited Jesse Ferguson faces his newest adventure: running NYC’s next great brewery and distillery.
The Incredible Edible IPA
From tacos to milkshakes, food flavors are being cooked into an unlikely beer style: the India pale ale.
Alaska Beer In The Last Frontier
It’s known as the land of the midnight sun, the 49th state and even Seward’s Folly. But one thing we know for sure—Alaska is not only filled with incredible natural beauty, the last frontier has a taste for beer.
Spanish Cider from American Soil
With the release of first-of-their-kind Spanish cider apple varieties into the U.S., American cider makers have an entirely new set of tools at their fingertips.That’s good news for small cider houses looking to make their mark with funky,tart interpretations of Spanish cider—grown here.
The Next Round
Much has been made of the creative, bold and entrepreneurial spirit that’s energized the beer industry, but the most seismic shifts in beer may come down to good, old-fashioned science. These technological innovations will undoubtedly shape what—and how—we drink in the future.
Single Malt Whisky Crosses The Channel
French spirit, Scottish soul.
Top 25 Beers Of The Year
IN THE LAST FEW YEARS, WE’VE WITNESSED AN EXPLOSION of new beer styles.
An American Beer Style In London
The most popular beers in the United Kingdom are starting to look, smell and taste a lot like the most popular beers in the U.S.
