The impending release of a new fruit beer from New Glarus Brewing is perhaps the most prosaic beer news a Wisconsinite can hear. It has all the novelty of road construction in the summer. When isn’t New Glarus engaged in some kind of alchemickal diabelerie conjuring beer from fruit (and vegetables) and grain?
Back in July, if memory serves, I heard that the venerable brewery to the south was to be unleashing Black Currant 22 come August. On one hand, it sounded interesting as blackcurrant is not an ingredient commonly found in beer, at least here in the States. On the other, the last 2 or 3 New Glarus fruit beer creations have been cloying, syrupy, and basically undrinkable for me. I contemplated not bothering with Black Currant 22 and found myself with an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other locked in mortal combat for my liver's soul.
Devil: Yuck! It’s a fruit beer!
Angel: But it’s New Glarus.
Devil: Yuck! It’s a fruit beer!
Angel: But it’s New Glarus.
Devil: Yuck! It’s a fruit beer!
Angel: But it’s New Glarus.
Devil: I want you to go out and kill! Kill! KILL!
Angel: WTF?
Devil: Wait. You’re not David Berkowitz. Sorry.
In this heated battle, it was the angel that proved victorious and so I brought home a 4-pack of the contentious brew.
Blackcurrant berries grow on shrubberies (Ni!) in northern and central Europe and northern Asia, according to Wikipedia. This explains why my past experiences with the fruit were exclusively from Polish jams. As the Black Currant 22 bottles note, the berries are on the tart side and I was hopeful that the tartness would prevail over sweetness here.
Black Currant 22 is a lovely deep purple. (Duh, duh, duh. Duh, duh da-duh!) The foam is purple too but my pour didn't produce much of it and what little there was fizzed away rather quickly. I think it was clear but certainly not translucent. The aroma was pleasantly unexpected. There was the anticipated sharp fruity/berry component but there was also a sour-lemony scent too. Also not expected was a hint of leather. A faint grassy smell rounded things out.
Despite the paucity of foam, the beer had a firm fizziness to it. Blackcurrants are more acidic than their red and white cousins and this stuff proves it with its mighty tang. The body was medium-heavy and I expect that the sweetness I tasted underneath the berry tartness was from the malt. How to describe what blackcurrant berries taste like? The best way I can think of is cranberry plus grape. Yeah, I know someone of a botanical inclination will dismiss this as a puerile description of their true taste but it's the best I've got.
When I swallowed, I found that the tangy fruitiness lingered long after the sweetness faded. I suppose hops may have contributed a little bitterness here but everything on the finish tasted of the fruit to me.
I breathed a sigh of relief after my first sip. This is very tasty stuff and not a cloying fructose bomb as the tart berries and fizz combined to keep the sweetness at bay. The tangy fruit flavor is simply delicious. Plus its purple hue makes for a lovely looking glass.
Junk food pairing: Pair your Black Currant 22 with a bag of Chex Mix Muddy Buddies Brownie Supreme and let the acidic fruitiness tangle with the chocolate goodness of the Chex Mix.
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