I have gazed into the bubbly foam beer head of my scrying bowl, which is more of a pint glass than a bowl, and beheld the future of beer.
Estrella Damm Inedit is this future of beer. In fact this is probably what Beer Lovers of the world have their erotic dreams about. Made in conjunction with the Food Lovers undisputed centrefold, Ferran Adria of El Bulli fame, this is a superb beer that really needs to be tried to be believed, a beer that has been specifically made to match with food. This was so good that I rolled it out recently with a group of ladies at wine tasting, most of whom don’t drink beer; everyone who tried it loved it. It is a unique blend of wheat beer and traditional malted lager beer.
Inedit in Spanish apparently means “never been done before” and that is very true when it comes to the idea of brewing a beer to match with food. Normally the beer is made, with a certain profile taste in mind, and then you see what food matches with it.
The 750ml bottle comes with a 20 page booklet that explains the origins and goes into in depth detail about why the beer was created and how they went about it. It also lists the You Tube site to view to learn more about the beers creation and the best way to drink it.
To be honest I couldn’t persist with watching the video, but I did catch that it took two years of research and testing to find a product they were happy with, that would match to the Michelin star standards of Ferran Adria. That Estrella is a Spanish Brewery that was founded by a German brewer in the 1800’s. For many years their flag ship was the Estrella Damm, and in 2009 they released the Inedit.
As the booklet suggested, I used a large Shiraz glass to try the beer, it poured super well, a cloudy straw colour with a great head. The head did thin a little over the course of the beer, but still had some lacing by the end of the glass.
It’s quite soft on the nose, almost pilsenerish. I believe this is why the ladies that tried it that night liked it so much, there are lots of soft and complex aromas in there, a touch of orange peel as well, which is not uncommon in wheat beers and a slight peppery smell too. On the tongue it’s soft yet with a touch of acid, almost riesling like. The same aromas coming through on the palate. Not too strong on the hops, yet enough to give it a bit of a spicy bite with the fruitiness, just perfectly balanced.
I’ve read that this isn’t a great beer to have as a session beer, I’m not so sure about that. I found it to be a great session beer, a few mates, a few of the 750ml bottles on a hot summer’s afternoon and they went down a treat. It is particularly good with food, as was the intention though. I doubt that there would be a beer anywhere else in the world that goes better with food.
Brilliant, brilliant beer. In all seriousness my words just don’t do this beer justice. It should be in every single bottleshop in Australia, and without doubt should be on every restaurant list too. If you think that the average “imported” 330-375ml beer is about $7-$9 on a restaurant list, then a 750ml truly imported beer at $25 wouldn’t be too much of a stretch would it, shared between a few people, much like a bottle of wine is.
Making the place about 200% profit per bottle…..If I need to point out how much can be made just so that everyone puts this on their lists then so be it.
Whatever you do, go find this beer and try it. Try it by itself or with food, but just try it. You won’t regret it.
Available at most good bottleshops and online $9 750ml bottle.