From the Beer Writer: I’ve written about the respect I have for the approach the band, Deftones, takes with the collaboration beers it works up with North County’s Belching Beaver Brewery. There is a high level of engagement and, often, knowledge of what people are pining for. Last year saw the introduction of an on-trend hazy IPA (another West Coaster Beer of the Week called Digital Bath). This time around, the conspirators have produced a Mexican-style lager. Dubbed Dia de los Deftones, it’s an easy-drinking adjunct lager that fits easily into a San Diego summer and its seasonal outdoor events (like, say, a concert).
From the Brewer: “I wanted to create a very high quality, traditional Mexican-style lager to enhance with the flavor of lime. We use American two-row and pilsner malts, which is pretty standard. We then layer American six-row, which is pretty rare nowadays. I felt that the six-row would give a higher level of complexity than just using two-row and pilsner malts. It’s also not a widely utilized malt nowadays and I felt that it would be fun to use more of the techniques utilized during the pre-Prohibition days. We then added flaked maize and flaked rice to create additional fermentables, and to complete the true-to-style aspect of a traditional Mexican-style lager. We used Mandarina Bavaria hops for bitterness, then added an all-natural powder made from dehydrated lime juice to give the impression of squeezing a lime into the beer. We feel this addition gives an amazing fresh lime aroma and balances well with the base lager, without overshadowing any one aspect of the beer, and becoming something entirely unique unto itself.”—Troy Smith, Brewmaster, Belching Beaver Brewery