Beer 511

In September, I reviewed Muy Malvada Porter, a collaboration brew between Lima’s Cerveceria Barbarian, and the Two Roads and Evil Twin breweries.

Muy Malvada was the test brew for a beer which was to be brewed and released in the US this Fall or Winter by Two Roads and Evil Twin. That beer, which is available now, is Two Evil Pachamama Porter.

According to the blurb on the can, Pachamama Porter was created after a trek to Peru. In Andean cosmology the life-giving Earth is known as Pachamama, literally, “Mother Earth”. The brewers felt that, “since our ingredients were provided by Mother Earth,” they would name the beer after her. (Unfortunately, the trade name “Pachamama” was already trademarked in Peru, so the Peruvian version bore a different name.) and that it would be made “using local ingredients.” Pachamama Porter is brewed with sweet potato, and Peruvian panca chiles and purple corn.

The Peruvian version was brewed using jora, the malted corn that is used to make traditional chicha corn brew, however, in Pachamama Porter, Two Roads and Evil Twin have substituted it with the purple corn used in making the non-alcoholic drink chicha morada. It might have been a flavor preference on the part of the brewers, but I suspect it was due to the relatively easier and cheaper access to Peruvian purple corn over jora in the US.

Pachamama Porter has the deep brown color that is the hallmark of a porter, and plenty of body. There is a very pleasant earthiness, doubtlessly imparted by the panca chiles, and a very slight pepper note at the back end, and a light sweetness. It is a complex and very tasty beer.

It clocks in at 6.5% abv, and although it lists no other specs on the can (nor on Two Roads’ website), Muy Malvada came in at 20 IBUs, so it may be safe to surmise Pachamama has a similar amount.

I’m quite glad to have found it.

Hard Frescos are a relatively new item, having been on the market for about a year.  They are the brain-child of Peter Stearns, from Santa Barbara, who worked for two years with experts at UC Davis to develop a way of making an alcoholic drink using pretty much only the ingredients that would go into Mexican aguas frescas, which were his inspiration.

Now, a “serious” beer drinker might well look at these and decide that they have no relation to beer, and that’s a fair point. However, as they are brewed using fruit and then fermented using an ale or a lager yeast, depending on the batch, they have as much a relation to beer as a cider or a mead. In any case, the federal government has required the company to include some barley malt in all the recipes so they can class Hard Frescos as a “malt beverage.”

I happened to met Stearns at the Hard Frescos booth at the recent Bay Area Craft Brew Festival, and he sent me home with some samples. Well, I’ve tried every one of what he gave me and I’ve got to say that I do like them.

The three flavors I sampled were “Citrico” -made with citrus-, “Tangy Tamarindo” -made with tamarind-, and “Juicy Jamaica” -made with hibiscus blossoms. Of the three (there is also a fourth flavor: “Cola Buena”), I by far preferred the “Citrico” (so glad he gave two of those!), followed by the “Tangy Tamarindo.”

Served cold, Hard Frescos are easy to drink and refreshing. All of the flavors contain around 5% ABV, but what comes through most brightly is the fruit used in their preparation. The adjectives that most come to mind are fun and friendly.

As they are a bit removed from the Belgian and farmhouse ales that I tend to prefer, I’m not sure that I’d stock them in my fridge –although they do hold out the promise of some interesting cocktails– but I’d happily order a Hard Frescos at a restaurant or taco truck.

They would certainly hit the spot as a “grown up” alternative any time one might reach for a Jarritos or a Peñafiel.