Beer blending back in the mix

Beer goes with just about everything. Brews can be paired with food, spirits, wine, watching sports, long weekends ……

It also can go very well with beer. That’s right beer and beer at times make a wonderful beer.

Brew blending has popped up recently as fresh facet to the ever-growing roots of the beer industry.

It isn’t a new process – it has a tradition going back when Belgians built their roads with cobblestones – but it is being stretched by contemporaries keen to continue their beer experimentation.

For many blending beer was what was done the morning after that big party when the dregs were pooled in a makeshift spittoon, often containing a few cigarette butts.

But blending is a serious business. There are a few in and around Brussels that have made it an artform for centuries.

Mixing those lambic sour ales together was and is a specialist job in Belgium – and a few have moved to various stretches of the globe. That’s how we get Geuze, made up of different vintage lambics.

The English had their Black and Tan during the late 1800s when Guinness stout was “layered” with a local pale ale or lager. It normally works best from a draught system. But Yuengling in the US has given it a go in pre-mixed cans.

Petrus in Belgium has given punters the best of both worlds. The breweries oak foeders have delivered Aged Red and Rood Bruin, which feature of percentage of its Aged Pale sour that has been aged in giant oak foeders (barrels).

However, Petrus sell the three beers, plus a 50-50 Aged Pale-Aged Red concoction.

Yet the company encourages drinkers to use the individual brews to make their own beer cocktail.

Others are doing it with retail beer.

The Sip hasn’t been exposed to much beer blending. But beer colleagues advise a Wheat Beer and India Pale Ale can make good bedfellows in a glass. And that bacon flavour of Rauchbier and Pumpkin Ale work together.

There are also reports a Blue Moon and topped with Lindemans Framboise can be delightful.

As more choice becomes available to the drinker the more likely to try something different. So blending could become more commonplace – a bit like boilermakers have been in recent years.

There are countless combinations and to help build a “recipe” base we’re encouraging contributions to our Blending Beer Bulletin Board.

If you’ve had a match then let us know via our comments section or on our Facebook page.