Into the co-ferment kingdom: A trip to Finca Monteblanco(robertasami.com)
robertasami.com
Into the co-ferment kingdom: A trip to Finca Monteblanco
https://www.robertasami.com/coffee/into-the-coferment-kingdom
2 comments
I see what you're saying, but IMO beer is both a bad example AND similar to coffee in many ways.
It's a bad example in the sense that the flavors you get out of fruited beers tends not to be as 'funky' as in coffees because fermentation is controlled so closely. You can get some incredible flavors out of adding adjuncts to beers. Yes it's interesting and cool that you can get some of those flavors out of yeast, but there are also flavors you just can't get from yeast that can be delicious.
It's also similar to coffee in that adding extra things is not somehow new or novel, it's actually very old, we're just rediscovering it.
It's a bad example in the sense that the flavors you get out of fruited beers tends not to be as 'funky' as in coffees because fermentation is controlled so closely. You can get some incredible flavors out of adding adjuncts to beers. Yes it's interesting and cool that you can get some of those flavors out of yeast, but there are also flavors you just can't get from yeast that can be delicious.
It's also similar to coffee in that adding extra things is not somehow new or novel, it's actually very old, we're just rediscovering it.
I feel the same way about beer with fruit adjuncts. Yeast and hops -- like coffee -- can express an unbelievable variety of aromas and flavors on their own. For example, a Flanders red ale can taste so much like sour cherries that you couldn't believe none were added to the ferment, mostly thanks to the magic of yeast.
When you have this kind of expressiveness in your ingredients to begin with, co-fermenting with fruit is a bit of a shame in my opinion.