Blog Tracker
13-10-2017, 11:44
Visit the Boak and Bailey's Beer Blog site (https://boakandbailey.com/2017/10/the-mainstreaming-of-grapefruit-beer/)
https://i0.wp.com/boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/grapefruit.jpg?resize=650%2C406&ssl=1
Back in 2013 the idea of putting actual grapefruit into beer seemed quite hilarious — a stunt, a play on the grapefruit character (http://edsbeer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/time-for-working-craft-beer-definition.html) of certain hop varieties.But somehow, probably because it filled a gap in the market between alcopop and Serious Beer, it stuck and became a craft beer staple. (Definition 2. (https://boakandbailey.com/guides-lists/when-we-say-craft-beer-we-mean/)) Now it’s even made its way out of that walled community so that in 2017 it seems*easier to get a grapefruit beer than a pint of mild.
BrewDog Elvis Juice, a grapefruit boosted IPA first launched in 2016, is in almost every supermarket in the land — even the funny little ones that otherwise only sell bog roll and sandwiches — at less than £2 a bottle. We weren’t sure if we liked it at first — “Eugh! It’s like someone’s put a splash of Robinson’s squash in it.” — but somehow it keeps ending up in the fridge, and keeps getting drunk. It’s got a palate cleansing quality, or perhaps palate defibrillating would be more accurate, and there’s just something*fun about it. That the base IPA is good in its own right doesn’t hurt.
https://i1.wp.com/boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/grapefruit_adnams.jpg?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1SOURCE : M&S websiteOut in West Cornwall we didn’t have easy access to Marks & Spencer so missed out on some of the fun of their revitalised beer range. Here in Bristol it’s much easier to grab the odd can or bottle while we’re out and about which is how we came to try the Grapefruit session IPA brewed for them by Adnams and available at £2 for 330ml, or less as part of multibuy offers. Would we have identified it as an Adnams beer if we’d tasted it blind? Probably not, but it does have some of their signature funk. It’s not thrilling or brainbending, just a decent pale ale with a twist. We’d probably rather drink Ghost Ship but perhaps, as with Elvis Juice, we just need to get to know it a little better.
https://i0.wp.com/boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/grapefruit_theakston.jpg?resize=233%2C317&ssl=1SOU RCE: Theakston website.And, finally, the one that really surprised us: the latest Wetherspoon’s ale festival includes a pink grapefruit ale from, of all breweries, Theakston. It is perhaps the most exciting Theakston beer we’ve ever had, a classic northern pale-n-hoppy (http://allaboutbeer.com/the-emergence-of-pale-n-hoppy-beers-in-the-uk/) whose tropical fruitiness is like the bold lining on a classically tailored jacket, glimpsed in passing rather than right upfront.*But, after the fact, we discovered something funny: unless we’re missing a detail in the small print, despite the word grapefruit in the name and pictures of them on the pumpclip, this effect is achieved entirely with… hops. A relatively new, obscure*variety called Sussex (https://www.britishhops.org.uk/varieties/sussex/), according to the Theakston website (https://www.theakstons.co.uk/our-ales/our-seasonal/pink-grapefruit/).
Does all this take us nearer to Craftmaggedon, when the last of the cask Best Bitters shall be cast into the pit and we will face the sea of darkness and all therein that may be explored? Or is just another variable for brewers to play with? It’s the latter, obviously. The beers above stand out in the context of Wetherspoon pubs or supermarket shelves but still represent only the very tiniest proportion of products on the market.
The Mainstreaming of Grapefruit Beer (https://boakandbailey.com/2017/10/the-mainstreaming-of-grapefruit-beer/) originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog (https://boakandbailey.com)
More... (https://boakandbailey.com/2017/10/the-mainstreaming-of-grapefruit-beer/)
https://i0.wp.com/boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/grapefruit.jpg?resize=650%2C406&ssl=1
Back in 2013 the idea of putting actual grapefruit into beer seemed quite hilarious — a stunt, a play on the grapefruit character (http://edsbeer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/time-for-working-craft-beer-definition.html) of certain hop varieties.But somehow, probably because it filled a gap in the market between alcopop and Serious Beer, it stuck and became a craft beer staple. (Definition 2. (https://boakandbailey.com/guides-lists/when-we-say-craft-beer-we-mean/)) Now it’s even made its way out of that walled community so that in 2017 it seems*easier to get a grapefruit beer than a pint of mild.
BrewDog Elvis Juice, a grapefruit boosted IPA first launched in 2016, is in almost every supermarket in the land — even the funny little ones that otherwise only sell bog roll and sandwiches — at less than £2 a bottle. We weren’t sure if we liked it at first — “Eugh! It’s like someone’s put a splash of Robinson’s squash in it.” — but somehow it keeps ending up in the fridge, and keeps getting drunk. It’s got a palate cleansing quality, or perhaps palate defibrillating would be more accurate, and there’s just something*fun about it. That the base IPA is good in its own right doesn’t hurt.
https://i1.wp.com/boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/grapefruit_adnams.jpg?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1SOURCE : M&S websiteOut in West Cornwall we didn’t have easy access to Marks & Spencer so missed out on some of the fun of their revitalised beer range. Here in Bristol it’s much easier to grab the odd can or bottle while we’re out and about which is how we came to try the Grapefruit session IPA brewed for them by Adnams and available at £2 for 330ml, or less as part of multibuy offers. Would we have identified it as an Adnams beer if we’d tasted it blind? Probably not, but it does have some of their signature funk. It’s not thrilling or brainbending, just a decent pale ale with a twist. We’d probably rather drink Ghost Ship but perhaps, as with Elvis Juice, we just need to get to know it a little better.
https://i0.wp.com/boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/grapefruit_theakston.jpg?resize=233%2C317&ssl=1SOU RCE: Theakston website.And, finally, the one that really surprised us: the latest Wetherspoon’s ale festival includes a pink grapefruit ale from, of all breweries, Theakston. It is perhaps the most exciting Theakston beer we’ve ever had, a classic northern pale-n-hoppy (http://allaboutbeer.com/the-emergence-of-pale-n-hoppy-beers-in-the-uk/) whose tropical fruitiness is like the bold lining on a classically tailored jacket, glimpsed in passing rather than right upfront.*But, after the fact, we discovered something funny: unless we’re missing a detail in the small print, despite the word grapefruit in the name and pictures of them on the pumpclip, this effect is achieved entirely with… hops. A relatively new, obscure*variety called Sussex (https://www.britishhops.org.uk/varieties/sussex/), according to the Theakston website (https://www.theakstons.co.uk/our-ales/our-seasonal/pink-grapefruit/).
Does all this take us nearer to Craftmaggedon, when the last of the cask Best Bitters shall be cast into the pit and we will face the sea of darkness and all therein that may be explored? Or is just another variable for brewers to play with? It’s the latter, obviously. The beers above stand out in the context of Wetherspoon pubs or supermarket shelves but still represent only the very tiniest proportion of products on the market.
The Mainstreaming of Grapefruit Beer (https://boakandbailey.com/2017/10/the-mainstreaming-of-grapefruit-beer/) originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog (https://boakandbailey.com)
More... (https://boakandbailey.com/2017/10/the-mainstreaming-of-grapefruit-beer/)