Beer and Wine, Mighty Fine

What happens when you blend and unfermented wine with unfermented beer? A beverage that’s unlike anything else, says Matt Robison from Record Street Brewing Company.

In December, Robison whipped up a dopplebock in preparation for an upcoming beer festival. Then he added muscat juice. The five-gallon batch is still fermenting, but he can tell you what he thinks it will taste like.

To call it complex, he says, is an understatement.

“First you’ll get the malt flavors of the beer, which in a dopplebock are kind of bready-toasty and raisiny. Then, with the muscat you’ll get kind of an oaky flavor. The wine also brings a tart aspect to it.”

Robison is speculating, based on a somewhat similar hybrid he tasted, and loved. That creation from Tahoe Mountain Brewing inspired his experiment. If it turns out well, he says he’ll put it on the menu at Record Street when it opens this summer.

“If it comes out no good, well – we’ll go from there,” he says.

If you’re curious, Robison plans to sample his hyrid (as yet unnamed) at Freeze Your Pints Off, the annual outdoor winter beer festival in the alley behind Under The Rose Brewing Company. Get there early, it’s a five-gallon batch.