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In the middle of the buzz (uproar?) about the marketing of beer created “just for women,” Ladies of Craft Beer tweeted the little gem below:
@LadiesOCB: WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Received a message that said, “Finally, a beer brewed with women in mind!” linked w TNA Candy Beer
From TNA Candy Beers website
I groaned inwardly as I thought, “Oh no, not another one.” After the utter idiocy of Chick Beer, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to follow the link to find out what this one was all about. However, it’s not in my nature to comment on something I’m not informed about, so off I went on my next cyber-adventure into beer land.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that nothing on the TNA Candy Beer website focused on anything about brewing for “women in mind” (disclosure: I didn’t watch the videos at the time). I was intrigued by the beers that I found there, with their focus on “unique” beers infused with hard candy and exotic fruits. Several of the brews had my mouth watering at the descriptions. Ironically, none were anything that I would recommend to new beer drinker because they’re on the…um… exotic side of the beer spectrum.
I emailed the brewmaster and president, Ty Armstrong, to see if the private tasting offer on the website still held. I was going to be traveling through SLO that weekend, and couldn’t resist trying to get a taste of his brews. He responded to my email, and we chatted over the phone to make arrangements for me to stop by on my way through town. I offered my homebrewed brown ale in trade, because that’s what we homebrewers do!
All TNA Candy Beers start from a beer base, although from the website descriptions, several have wandered pretty far afield from anything you’ll find in a standard BJCP style guide. These will probably require a completely new style description in the next edition of the guide, because the closest style now would be fruit beer, but that doesn’t quite go far enough. The use of their proprietary hard fruit candy and fresh fruits to infuse the sweetness and flavor of their beers is a few steps beyond what you’ll find in either a Belgian or fruit beer.
Where the brewed for women debate comes into play is that, as Ty will tell anyone, the genesis of his Candy Beers was that a woman friend wanted a beer that was “brewed with a woman in mind.” Sigh.
WHAT DID THAT REALLY MEAN? I had to explore this because the delicious beers that I saw on his website (Root Beer Stout, anyone?) looked appealing to anyone, and were being marketed to “anyone with a sweet tooth,” a very lovely, non-gender designation, one which has his partner Judy’s fingerprints all over it. A designation which is, as it turns out, very apt for the beer styles he is brewing.
In this case, what his friend was really looking for was a beer that wasn’t hoppy, something on the sweet side. Something that was not a macro brewed light lager (light lager being the designation for Bud/Miller/Coors, i.e. 95% of the US beer market today). Now that’s a goal I can get on board with. It’s all about flavor and style.
On the day I passed through SLO, Ty and Judy were waiting for me with a couple of samples to try, 20 and Knock Out Punch. Admittedly, the 20 candy beer was a few days short of full carbonation (as was my brown ale for trade), so I was happy that Ty was sending me home with a bottle to try a week later.
Both candy beers I tasted were good. Most definitely good, especially since I do get a craving for a sweeter style on occasion. The flavor was so different from the blonde and brown ales that I’ve been drinking recently that the first sip was all about resetting the flavor expectations on my tongue. It’s a very sweet style, as one would expect from the name.
A tried and true hophead will probably not go beyond a single sip. The hops provide balance to the sweetness, but aren’t prevalent on the palate at all. According to Ty, his original experiments were very hoppy, reflecting the style of beers that he used to brew. However, over time, he dialed back the hops because they just weren’t right for the intended style.
Knock Out Punch – There’s no better way to describe it than its name. It’s brewed, but doesn’t start from a beer base. It’s dangerous. Very dangerous. On the nose, there’s a subtle liqueur aroma, not strong, but there. On the palate, it’s…juice. Literally, I could have been drinking non-alcoholic sparkling fruit juice. A tasty 8.1% fruit juice that will knock you on your backside before you know what happened. I took two small sips and set it aside in deference to the long drive ahead of me. Dangerous.
20 – This candy beer is heavily infused with fruit and hard fruit candies, so it’s fairly sweet. Fruit forward doesn’t quite capture the flavor description because, although quite sweet, it’s not an overpowering fruit flavor at the same time. (I’m sure real beer judges are squirming right now at my attempts at defining this beer). In color, it’s close to amber ale in darkness, but with a distinct red tinge due to the fruit. When carbonated, the head is more reminiscent of champagne than beer, I think reflecting the higher sugar content. Ty has actually created a sweeter version of the beer called 30, but I was happy with 20, any sweeter would have gone beyond my taste preferences.
I definitely enjoyed my visit with Ty and Judy, and greatly appreciated their hospitality as I passed through town. There was one huge problem with the visit though. TNA Candy Beers also makes Candy Beer cupcakes using the Candy Beers in the recipe. Judy described them in mouth watering detail, with an emphasis on how wonderfully they accompany 20. And they didn’t have any! Oh, so cruel. But I still like them anyway.
By profession, Julie is a product manager in the data storage industry. By craft, Julie is a homebrewer, craft beer fan, and co-owner of The Good Brewer, a home brew supply store in Livermore, CA. Follow her on Twitter @JulieHerd.
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The people that we got to hang out with all day are just plain awesome. The first person I ran into was the famous homebrewer Robert French (@ThreeFrenchs) or “Frenchs” as I called him, and it was so nice to finally meet him in person. It’s a strange and wonderful thing when a twitter/facebook/google+/ untapped friend is tangible and standing in front of you. To all you readers at home I will tell you exactly what I think after meeting Frenchs in person: he’s fantastic. Stephen Johnson, John Holzer and Matt Becker from New Brew Thursday were in attendance with Thomas J. Ham (@ThomasJHam) and posed for some marvelous pictures and swapped beer stories. Don McAllister, brewer and founder of Packinghouse Brewery, was a great host and constantly moving about the party but also was warm and great to talk to. It was also really great to finally meet Jason Harris (@munche) and Erick (@ithor13) and put faces to the twitter conversations.
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