Estrella Damm Inedit, one of the more interesting discoveries on my most recent trip to the Cambie LDB, claims to be “the first beer specifically created to accompany food.” A rather bold and somewhat laughable claim to make, but not particularly surprising considering this beer was made by a large lager-centric Spanish macro, Damm Brewey, in consultation with avant-garde chef Ferran Adrià, Juli Soler and El Bulli’s sommeliers’ team.
“Inedit was developed from the belief that there was a need for a beer that could complement a dining experience,” said Adrià in an interview last year. The name Inedit means “never been done before” in Catalan.
Really? For a beer developed in a culinary think-tank consisting of mostly wine and food nerds, see here, it is a pretty over-hyped and underwhelming beer that may please novice drinkers but is sure to disappoint everyone else.
Inedit is best categorized as a Belgian style witbier (wheat beer). The literature that accompanies the 750 ml bottle encourages the drinker to serve the beer at 4ºC – 8ºC in a white wine glass , and to keep it chilled on ice to fully “appreciate all its virtues.”
The virtually non-existent nose has elusive aromas of wheat and coriander and pours a pale and cloudy yellow with a robust creamy white head. The light body of the beer has an interesting and subtle taste of barley, wheat, and notes of orange peel and licorice (two adjuncts of the recipe) that ends in a disappointing watery finish.
While the Inedit quite predictably pairs well with most foods (hello easy-drinking bubbles?), so do most lighter beers. And if I was looking for a Belgian-style witbier, I would rather be quaffing Driftwood’s White Bark Ale, or the original mac-daddy, Hoegaarden.
Brewer: Damm
ABV: 4.8%
Category: Witbier
Appearance: 4
Aroma: 2.5
Flavour: 3
Mouthfeel: 2.5
Overall: 3
Score: 15/25
Availability: 750 ml bottles available at Firefly and select BC liquor stores
~ PK
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
The first beer made to pair with food? Come on? I agree with you completely.
Wine of course has been paired with food forever. And in the last few years, more and more people are starting to pair beer with food as well. But to say that your beer is the first to pair with food is ignorant and chalked up with stupidity.
I’m a brew master myself. Or was until recently. I made beers that paired with food quite well actually. And occasionally but not often would have a customer ask me what paired well with what. Sometimes even going as far to change a recipe I had here and there to suit there tastes or to suit a meal.
Wine gets all the fun while beer seems to be always seen as the lesser drink. Which, if you ask anyone who knows their history will tell you otherwise.
Beer can be paired with food just as well as wine. And it’s becoming more and more popular especially in smaller pubs in North America that carry craft beer.
I’m sorry you didn’t like this beer however. I will have to give it a try myself and compare notes.
cheers
Corey Allan Hawkins
I look forward to reading your opinion of this beer, Corey.
I’ve had this beer several times and it’s pretty enjoyable. An oddball cross of a wheat beer and lager. The wheat flavours are mild but the extra carbonation of lager make it easier to drink than many wheat beers. Good value at under $6 for a 750ml bottle.
Well i had this beer at a restuarant the other night and was blown away by the first bottles nose and flavours. The second bottle was markedly different to the first. It laked the fruity vibrancy of the first on the nose and the pallete was not nearly as well balanced. Even so the second bottle was still an amazing drop a shame the consistancy was not there. So i went out and bought two cases, just to make sure…and I really love this, finally a large commercial company making good beer not just the small micro brewaries. I am sure it wont be long before the accountants get involved and change the beers recipe and start to add adjuncts like sugar in just to make a few more pennies…
Alan, you have convinced me to try this beer again. My first review above was the one of the lowest scores of any beer review on this site, which was reflective of the disappointment and irritation I felt towards the arrogant marketing claims, especially considering the parties involved in the making of this beer.