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New Belgium has produced a beer that is, in a word, undrinkable. And it’s your fault.
The beer, called Torched Earth, is beer designed “to illustrate what the future of beer will look like if we don’t get more companies to commit to aggressive climate action. This beer uses the kind of ingredients that would be available in a climate-ravaged future…and they’re less than ideal.”
The beer gets its florals from dandelions and the water contains smoke thanks to wildfires. The beer itself is made from buckwheat and millet which is far more drought-tolerant than wheat. It’s basically a beer brewed in a near dystopian (or actual) future.
PorchDrinking reviewed it and found it… lacking:
Torched Earth Ale pours a cloudy amber and has a troubling aroma right out of the bottle, not unlike a friend’s first batch of homebrew. The brewers used smoky malt, and sure enough, there are overwhelming notes of forest fire and skunk. One whiff conjures up the mental image of a crying Smokey Bear. The smoky flavor is actually more balanced than expected, though it is overpowering and leaves an unpleasantly dry finish. Shelf-stable hop extract was used instead of fresh hops, and the difference is noticeable: there is a thinness and a staleness to the aftertaste that makes your insides feel polluted. Dandelions were also added because, as anyone with a yard knows, dandelions are an indestructible force of evil and could never be eradicated, even on the surface of the sun. They do not add much in flavor, though, and the end result is a beer that tastes like you left your Fat Tire out at a party and your friends used it as an ashtray.
You can order beer straight from New Belgium. It’s $40 for eight beers and all the profits go to support Protect Our Winters.
