Have you ever enjoyed a pineapple habanero IPA? A coconut stout? Perhaps a raspberry gose? Creative and curious brewers are adding new flavor profiles to almost every beer style, and you can rest assured that what’s added exceeds brewery-quality muster to keep you coming back for more.
We were more than intrigued to learn about how our favorite brews are being enhanced, so we sat down with Brewers of Pennsylvania Associate Member Amoretti’s Debra Coletti, product consultant and account manager, to get the delicious details.
Why are brewers adding purees, natural flavors, extracts and compounds?
The face of craft beer has changed. The beer-lover wants to sit down and enjoy a delicious beer and for many, that means something different and unique. Brewers are constantly pushing the envelope to see what beer they can make next.
What style/s of beer are best suited to be flavored?
Traditionally, IPAs have been the easiest to flavor, as citrus notes pair so well with most hop varieties. Over the past few years, we’ve seen the trend moving toward sours (think pomegranate, prickly pear or strawberry rhubarb) and goses (try raspberry or marshmallow), as they are a blank canvas for many unique flavor profiles. Don’t count out porters and stouts, though. This is sometimes where we see the most creativity in flavor profiles, such as coconut, espresso and peanut.
Do breweries see profits pop when they add beers like this to their lineup?
It depends on the brewer. Obviously adding variety to your tap handles will bring in a more diverse crowd, and possibly new business. Flavored beers can sometimes be more expensive to make, though, so brewers need to decide if they want to charge more or decrease their profits when deciding on a price point.
Have breweries gotten any “push back” from “purists” who want the hops and the malts to run the show?
Of course, but to each their own. There are plenty of beers out there, and plenty of beer drinkers. There’s space for everyone to brew what they want to brew, and for beer drinkers to drink what they want to drink.
Do you sell to the homebrew market as well?
We do. LD Carlson distributes our product to many homebrew shops, along with our own web sales. Homebrewers are known for innovation!
What are the trends in this arena right now?
Marshmallow extract is hot! It helps mellow a gose so that it becomes the platform for other flavors. We’re also seeing the usual summer flare up for Pineapple and other tropical flavors. We will see a trend shortly towards POG (Passion/Orange/Guava) as brewers have realized the combination is a playground for most hop varieties.
What’s next?
Honestly, seltzer. The requests come in daily, as brewers are seeing it is relatively simple to make, low cost and helps bring in a customer base who would otherwise go to a bar. A local brewery can now service a larger array of customers without a liquor license. The mindset has changed. Most beer drinkers aren’t changing to seltzer, though; it’s the non-beer-drinker who now finds a home in their local brewery.
How did Amoretti get from that first truffle to brewery resources?
Our company has been built on customer service and imagination. We started making truffles, and as our customer base grew, so did our assortment. We would not have the variety of products that we do without our customers pushing us to do more.
Tell me a little more about Amoretti’s GABF and WBC wins!
We’re always on pins and needles waiting for the results! We spend so much time helping to develop the flavor profiles that we feel pride when we see a brewer take an award home. Although we would love for those brewers to share our name with everyone who asks, we understand they may not want to share “their secret ingredient.” We are often the difference between them and their competition.
Is there anything I didn’t ask that you’d like to say?
This is truly a unique industry. If I didn’t know it before, the last few months navigating the novel coronavirus shutdowns and subsequent changes have shown me even more how resilient and resourceful brewers, cider makers and distillers can be. Being able to change their entire dynamic in what seemed to be a blink of the eye, from taproom sales to only takeout is amazing. They implemented creative thinking, like neighborhood stops on a Friday night with a food truck, to delivery options. It’s opened the industry up in a whole new way and I’m excited to see where it takes us.
Amoretti is the ultimate pastry, savory and beverage ingredient manufacturing company. It’s a Southern California local, family-owned manufacturer of fine pastry and beverage ingredients for more than 22 years. The world’s best chefs use Amoretti, and now it is bringing its expertise to consumers, with its home line of olive oils and vinegars, pastry and beverage ingredients and more.
The Brewers of Pennsylvania is a nonprofit trade association that brings together leaders of Pennsylvania-based breweries in order to promote and protect the brewing industry in the state. Established in 2011, the Brewers of Pennsylvania serves the consuming public of Pennsylvania by encouraging brand diversity in the market. We believe in the nobility of brewing and hold dear the great traditions and history of Pennsylvania brewing.
All photos courtesy of Stephanie Drews, Amoretti
