Drink: Beer from beets
No ingredient is off-limits for the infinitely creative world of craft brewing, with add-ins ranging from seasonal fruits (often wonderful) to peanut butter (always questionable). But it actually makes sense to find a wild ale turned crimson with beet jui
No ingredient is off-limits for the infinitely creative world of craft brewing, with add-ins ranging from seasonal fruits (often wonderful) to peanut butter (always questionable). But it actually makes sense to find a wild ale turned crimson with beet juice at Crime & Punishment Brewing Co., the tiny brew cafe with a Russian theme in Brewerytown whose inventive beers are as fresh as they are on point with literary flair. For "Disturbing the Beets," brewers Michael Wambolt and Mike Paul kettle-soured a pilsner malt, then let it ferment a month with 100 pounds of juiced beets, plus the wild yeast known as
Brettanomyces.
Beet sugar itself is not an uncommon ingredient in beer, but beet as a featured flavor is pretty novel. And the result is far more elegant and balanced than I expected, its refreshingly funky lacto-tartness followed by a vivid wash of earthy root sweetness that tastes like the love child of beer and borscht. With a plate of house pickles and meat-filled pelmeni dumplings to nosh on, I found a pairing that couldn't be beat.
- Craig LaBan
Disturbing the Beets, $4-$6 a glass ($18 a growler), Crime & Punishment Brewing Co., 2711 W. Girard Ave., 215-235-2739.