Ferran Adria’s New Beer
Bearing black glass and a simple, lone gold star at the bottom of it, a sample bottle of the much-buzzed-about Estrella Damm Inedit landed on my doorstep last week.
It’s the new beer by none other than Chef Ferran Adria of Spain’s esteemed El Bulli. Yes, the pioneer of molecular gastronomy, the chef who dares to go where no chef has gone before, has turned his wildly creative talents to crafting his own brewski.
The beer is a collaboration between Adria; El Bulli’s sommeliers; and Estrella Damm, Barcelona’s leading brewer. Adria says it’s meant specifically to enjoy with food.
Of course, Adria’s beer is unlike any other. Forget toting a six-pack. This elegant beer comes in a wine-like bottle with a cap that’s easily removed with your standard bottle opener. With its 750 ml bottle, Inedit is meant for sharing. It’s also meant to be served chilled, in a white wine glass.
It has a nice creamy head, and a golden, slightly amber color.
After one sip of the light-bodied, light-flavored beer, my husband declared that he could slam down a few glasses easily. (Full disclosure: Yes, he belonged to a college fraternity. ‘Nough said.)
To me, it had a hoppy taste, but surprisingly, little of the bitterness associated with beer. Instead, there were notes of honeysuckle and autumn baking spices. It’s quite refreshing and easy to quaff. We enjoyed it with Chinese food, which it went with very well.
Inedit is available at BevMo for $10 a bottle.
It’s one affordable way to get a taste of Adria’s talents, especially if you’ve yet to be lucky enough to score a coveted table at his highly touted restaurant. (Yes, that’s present company included.)
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Friday, 19. June 2009 6:55
I’ll have to look for this beer in our area. How neat!
Friday, 19. June 2009 9:09
Great brew tip, Food Gal — in time for both Father’s Day and a couple of family beer drinkers’ birthdays. Thanks!
Friday, 19. June 2009 10:16
Love the color of the beer and what a change to serve it in a wine glass! I will have to stop by BevMo to pick some up!
Friday, 19. June 2009 12:33
Making beer makes sense – Adria knows a lot about foam.
Friday, 19. June 2009 20:27
Oh man, I read about this and, wow – I am much more of a wine drinker, but I really want to try this. I never thought I’d learn of a beer described with honeysuckle notes – now I gotta go to BevMo – thankfully there is one fairly close!
Saturday, 20. June 2009 6:06
I going to look this beer up in my Atlanta area !
Thanks for the read~
Have a great Day:)
Saturday, 20. June 2009 7:06
Sounds great. Can’t wait to locate a bottle! We have a thing around my house for beer sampling, so this will be fun to try.
Saturday, 20. June 2009 13:32
wow… this beer looks great. There are many local brewery in Seattle, but this is the type of beer I would like to try. thanx for the post! Hope they have some here in the Seattle area! if so, I’ll take my “friend” there!
Sunday, 21. June 2009 4:00
Looks nice that Beer. And its not so expensive then in the Restaurant.
Sunday, 21. June 2009 19:07
“Instead, there were notes of honeysuckle and autumn baking spices.”
That is the description that made me want to drive out and buy a bottle right away. Yum!!!
Sunday, 21. June 2009 20:16
We have a great craft beer bar in our neighborhood, but I don;t think they serve Spanish beers. Sounds divine. I think my husband would love it. Actually, I’ll bet on it!
Monday, 22. June 2009 12:19
Darn MN’s stringent laws on alcohol sales! None of the big retailers such as BevMo or Total Wine have cracked the Twin Cities market so I will probably have to hunt this down at one of the specialty wine & spirits shops (meaning it will likely cost me a bit more than $10!) Still, it sounds like it is well worth a try. Now that he’s wading into beer, I wonder if Chef Adria’s plans to get into the pizzeria biz in Barcelona has progressed?
Monday, 22. June 2009 17:37
Tangled Noodle: Adria’s pizzeria concept in Barcelona has me curious, too. It’ll be interesting to see how he brings his own style to pizza. Ahh, me thinks this calls for a trip to Spain in the near future.
Monday, 22. June 2009 18:00
I have been wanting to go to El Bulli since I heard about it. That beer looks so refreshing and affordable too. I can’t wait for a return to Spain!
Wednesday, 24. June 2009 5:35
We really want to go to El Bulli. Our friends planned a last-minute trip to Spain recently and didn’t get to go since the reservations are a year out. I’m not a big fan of light beer (prefer darks) but this definitely is worth trying. So awesome we can score it at BevMo!
Wednesday, 24. June 2009 8:39
Pam: El Bulli may be the hardest ticket in the world. It doesn’t help that it’s closed three months out of the year. But then again, it’s closed during that time so that Ferran Adria can devote his time to new experiments for NEXT year’s menus. Sigh, maybe his new pizza place in Barcelona will be easier to get into. Let’s hope!
Thursday, 2. July 2009 9:14
Alas, no truth after all to the story going around that Ferran is opening a pizza joint in Italy: http://www.gourmet.com/restaurants/2009/06/adria-pizza