A Constant Visual Feast

This small piece started out, in its pitch stages, as a comparison between the flavor profiles of RTD (Ready-to-drink) boozy beverages, and how consumers of the latter might be persuaded to go back to the former if it’s clarified to them that beers exist with  tastes and sensations that overlap with RTDs’; it turned into a story of economics, and a counterpoint to the sky-is-falling claims about the threat RTDs present to the craft beer industry. 

It did not turn into a set of tasting notes about the excellent beers produced by Side Project, though if you know my inclinations toward hoppier beers, then my embrace of these barrel-aged farmhouse-style sours is evidence of how damn good they are. I’d go so far as to say they’re wasted on the RTD demographic on account of their complexity and  depth of flavor. (Note: I hate RTDs. I hate what they’re doing to craft beer, even if it’s ultimately not quite the case that they are a shiv in craft beer’s ribs; part of the joy of a good cocktail is watching it come together from an ingredient list into a complete drink. If you take that away and just jam the thing in a can, then what’s the fucking point? This has been my lecture for the morning.) 

They’re not wasted on lively drinkers with a curiosity for unexpected adjuncts in beer, especially beers as hard to make as sours. Head to Cool Material for the full report.