From the Beer Writer: After taking most of the past six months off, Beer to the Rescue returned to action this week (on my son’s 21st birthday, perfectly enough) with the Tuesday release of Pure Project Delphyne. Before even having opened their doors, the founders of Pure Project Brewing expressed a desire to participate in this Lupus Foundation of Southern California fundraising campaign, which saw more than 30 Southern California breweries contribute a portion of proceeds from specialty beers in 2015. In joining the cause, Pure Project head brewer Winslow Sawyer was kind enough to appease my personal tastes. His brewing MO is to select interesting ingredients—usually fruits of a citrus or tropical variety—then select an ideal beer-style for showcasing each. In this case, he took my requested ingredient, dragon fruit, and incorporated it into an effervescent, lightly sour Berliner weisse. The result is a blushingly magenta brew with a body well suited for summer and a generous touch of soul.
From the Brewer: “Delphyne is a bright, refreshingly tart ‘sunshine beer’ featuring lactic and sourdough-like notes on the nose. Based on a traditional German Berliner weisse, it’s brewed with raw, organic dragon fruit we sourced from San Diego-based operation, Pitaya Plus, whose non-GMO farms are located in Nicaragua. This exotic ingredient provides both color and depth of flavor. Berliner weisses—which were the most popular beverage in Germany during the late 19th century—are typically fermented using a mixture of yeast and lactic bacteria, but for this charity beer, I used a vegan yogurt to sour the wort before boiling, then utilized a German ale yeast for fermentation.”—Winslow Sawyer, Head Brewer, Pure Project
Note: Other breweries scheduled to brew beers for Beer to the Rescue include AleSmith Brewing Company, Bay City Brewing Company, Bitter Brothers Brewing Company, Bolt Brewery, Kilowatt Beer Company and White Labs. Stone Brewing is also providing the charity the opportunity to reach people as part of its 20th Anniversary Invitational Beer Festival next month. For more information about upcoming beers and events, follow Beer to the Rescue on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@BeerToTheRescue).