Jul. 20, 2011 - Issue #822: CASH IN!

To the Pint

Spot of beer?

Tea beer turns out to be a pleasant surprise

I told the guy there was no way I would like that beer. But he insisted. I hesitated again, but he persisted. So I took a sip.

The guy in question was Steve Abrams, Co-founder of Mill Street Brewery. He was talking to me at a wine festival, of all places, last fall. We had been chatting beer and had worked through tastes of their line of quality beer, like the Coffee Porter and the Tankhouse Ale. Then he presented a can of this strange oddity and suggested I try it. I crinkled my nose and politely suggested it might not be the beer for me—it seemed too much like a novelty beer. He repeated the offer, predicting I would be pleasantly surprised. Not wanting to be rude, I accepted.

The beer in question was Lemon Tea Beer, a summer specialty wheat beer Mill Street crafted with a blend of Orange Pekoe and Earl Grey tea and some lemon. This "iced tea" beer has become a bit of a rage in Europe recently. I have been dismissive, seeing it as another effort to appeal to non-beer drinkers by taking the beer out of beer (read: Bud Light Lime). Fruit wheat beer has never been my favourite and the thought of diluting the beer character even further by mixing in tea (which on its own I have no issues with) seemed silly to me.

I have yet to try one of the European tea beer, but having had a taste (and now a full can or two) of the Mill Street version, I must own up and say I was wrong. This is an inviting, refreshing beer. AND it still tastes like beer. It pours medium gold with a thin white head, forming islands of foam on the surface. There is a slight haze to it, likely from tea tannins. The aroma is classic iced tea—earthy tea, lemon and a little honey to accent.

The taste has a soft wheat-sweet up front, plus some black-tea character. Lemon moves in near the end, sharpening and freshening the beer. It is a blend of iced tea with honey and some wheat malt. The tea addition offers some twiggy tannin, the lemon a citrus sharpness and the wheat base is soft and mellow. The blend of flavours really does work. There is enough beer in there to keep me happy, but the tea and lemon make it an ideal summer quencher.

I am not entirely sure how they did it, but they did. They made a beer that appeals to both those who don't really like beer but want a refreshing summer drink and beer fans looking for something interesting and unusual. It isn't a novelty at all, in my mind. Just a good beer. V

Lemon Tea Beer
Mill Street Brewery, Toronto, On
$2.99 for 500 ml can vueweekly.com comments: powered by Disqus