Beer

The Allagash Brewing staff couldn’t get enough of this rhubarb beer, so they made more of it

By Gary Dzen

August 12, 2017

2 minutes to read

On the surface, brewing a beer with rhubarb seems like a good idea. The herbaceous staple, abundant in summer, would theoretically lend the same earthy tartness to a saison as it does to jams and pies.

So when Allagash Brewing Co. lab worker Heather Muzzy developed a recipe for a rhubarb brew on the company’s pilot system and the entire staff loved it, making more was a no-brainer. Muzzy’s original recipe took very little tweaking, but scaling it up proved more problematic.

“We needed a whole ton of rhubarb,’’ says Allagash head brewer Jason Perkins, who notes that 550 pounds of the plant didn’t fit neatly into little mesh bags, like they used for the pilot system.

In a process similar to what brewers call “hopbacking,’’ the Allagash team filled the lauter tun, a brewing vessel, with rhubarb, then ran the beer back through to pick up the flavors.

“The more volatile aromas and flavors are gonna boil off in the kettle,’’ Perkins says of not throwing in the rhubarb earlier. “This way you get that fruity-vegetal kind of blended flavor.’’

The resulting beer is Allagash’s 2017 release of the rotating Fluxus series. Brewed as a mixed fermentation saison — there’s Brettanomyces in here to lend the brew a charred-pineapple note — Fluxus 2017 lets the rhubarb play off pilsner and honey malts. The drink smells like dandelions, coats your mouth like a Merlot, and finishes with a peppery, sweet kick. The beer isn’t soured, but the rhubarb provides a tartness reminiscent of the vegetable.

Everett’s Down the Road Brewery takes another approach to the unique ingredient. Strawberry Rhubarb Feyborn is the latest release in a popular Berliner Weisse series that also includes a cherry version. Unlike the Allagash, this beer is intentionally soured, in the German tradition for the style. It’s less alcoholic, too, 4.5 percent ABV compared to 6.5 for Fluxus.

“The rhubarb works well with strawberry because it creates a counterbalance of tart with a touch of earthy flavor that allows the sweet berry to just pop — like strawberries and spinach in a salad,’’ says Down the Road founder Donovan Bailey.

The beer appears blood orange in the glass and drinks quite a bit more tart than the Allagash, with an almost fungal kick at the end reminding you that something in here, not too long ago, was growing in a garden.