This edition of the Session is a little different from others. Most of the time, the Session focuses on a beer style, or a theme revolving around beer. Over at I’ll Have a Beer they went with a more abstract topic; the framing of beer. It’s a tough topic to explain, so head over to there to get a better grasp of what’s going on then click through to my article and let the show begin. It’s time to put beer in a proper setting.
Take a moment from reading and just watch and listen right now. In all, these videos take less than 6 minutes. See you in a few.
As the videos will tell you, Inedit is the ultimate in beer. If you believe the hype, beer has no place at the dining table, until this beer came along. Oils, spices, citrus and bitter vegetables were all wastelands when it came to finding an appropriate beverage to accompany a fine meal. Now, there is Inedit. Served in a 1/3 full white wine glass and kept ice cold, this is a beer to shatter those barriers of flavor that have hindered the perfect meal for centuries.
Problem is, it’s a load of crap. Regular reader of this blog will know that food and beer are excellent companions. Not only that, there are numerous beers out there that can match the quality of any meal put on your plate. Amazingly, they even come in a fancy bottle at comparable prices to Inedit.
So what is Inedit? As the video tells you, it’s a blend of wheat and barley malt based beers with an addition of spices to create favorable flavor pairings with those tricky dishes.
In my opinion, it’s a poor saison blended with a bland pilsner. I am sure there is a fitting pairing for this beer, but I’m not sure there wouldn’t be better options available. While other beers might heighten flavors and elevate the food you’ve paired it with, Inedit does a great job of getting out of the way.
This bring us back to our topic of framing a beer. This beer has quite an ornate frame. Everything that lies outside of the bottle, including the well designed booklet tied by a rope around the neck of the bottle, tells you that you’ve got something special coming your way. The problem is, a beer is much more than just a frame. What’s inside the bottle is what matters.
Thankfully, the craft beer industry has known this for some time. Estrella Damm is best known in Spain for a mass produced pale lager, similar to our fizzy yellow beers here in America. The idea of a pretty frame is as natural to Damm as big breasted, sports themed, and “commical” commercials here in the States. (I can’t confirm or deny the use of similar advertising campaigns produced by Damm in Spain, but would not be surprised.)
While I’m no professional evaluator, I do play one on the internet. We all read the label of the beer placed in front of us, and not being a certified judge, I am allowed to ignore the technical aspects of a beer and simply enjoy it (or not). Sure, we may be disappointed if we buy an IPA and get a hoppy pale ale, but if we still enjoy the finished product, isn’t that the real issue?
Ignore the labels, drink the beer.
The funniest part of that whole thing is the use of an Australian and English voice actors for our sommeliers. It’s pretty common knowledge in advertising that people in the U.S. find those accents to be authoritative.