OK. It's confession time. Embarrassing though it is to admit, our knowledge of Egyptian beers is pretty slender. What's more, our knowledge of Egyptian bread beers is slimmer still. And when it comes to ancient imperial Egyptian bread beers, well, doncha just know it, we come up empty. Or at least we did until now, when the generous souls at Red Duck decided to culture up some sourdough yeast from a the tiny batch of Ra they made a couple of years back and make just that: an imperial Egyptian bread beer. It's a hop free beer as they didn't get added to beers until centuries later, but does contain, in no particular order, spelt, oats, wheat and barley, as well as a lot of raisins, sultanas and a small amount of dried orange peel and a sprinkling of spices. The result is a beer that's all manner of things: it pours a cloudy, yeasty yellow, is thick, vinous, initially tart then fruity, with sweet honey characters joining in the fun later on. It's also utterly unique and will never be brewed again.
Published August 10, 2012 2012-08-10 00:00:00
