Hey guys!! Second blog post here! So yesterday I went to my favorite Chicago beer shop, Bitter Pops, and faced the ever present dilemma of what beer to order. To help narrow it down, we ordered a flight first. I wasn't overly excited about the selection, but there were a few that I had been anxious to try!
One of those, was Guava Pink Peppercorn Rye by Band of Bohemia. If you haven't heard of Band of Bohemia its okay, its pretty small, BUT it was the first Michelin rated brewpub. So that's pretty cool! The Guava Pink Peppercorn definitely stood up to that elevated flavor that you would think of when you think of a Michelin rated brewpub.It was lightly tart with some floral notes, but it had a watery texture that I wasn't a fan of. In the end, it didn't end up being my pint choice.
Another that stood out was an Une Annee sour Le Seul V. Now I've had my fair share of sour beers, but this one was much more sour than anything I've ever had! Thats not to say that it wasnt good, just shockingly sour! Behind all that sour, was a really great kiwi fruit flavor. I would be very interested to try more of their sours to see if they were all as sour as this one, but they would have to be tasters because there is no way I could drink a whole pint of it.
I ended up deciding to get a pint of Founders Nitro Rubeaus, which brings us to the title of this post...what is a nitro!?! The difference is really in the name, instead of being carbonated with 100% CO2, it is 70% nitrogen and 30% CO2. So its pretty obvious when pour it that it is not like your typical beer. It pours with a giant foam head that slowly diminishes, this is because nitrogen is largely insoluble in liquid. The best part about nitro's for me is that they create a creamy light mouth-feel. It really allows you to taste the flavors in the beer rather than just the bubbles like you would in a Miller light. Another interesting aspect of nitro beers is that the use of nitrogen ends up creating faded hops, so most breweries use the nitro technique in more malty beers like stouts. I was very happy to try the nitro rubeaus, because I love the CO2 version and was curious to see what the difference would be in a fruit beer. Compared to the original, the nitro version is incredibly smooth and creamy, which really adds to the raspberry flavor! It really makes an incredible beer even more incredible! If you ever see rubeaus nitro on tap, get it! You wont regret it!
