Brewery: South Plains Brewing
Country: Sweden
Size: 33cl
ABV: 7.5%
Price: 22kr
Systembolaget: 30596
Life would be pretty boring is we never tried something new. No one likes going through the same routines every day without experiences something different. Maybe it’s the smaller surprises like finding a new band that you fall in love with, or something bigger like realising you really do enjoy taking a finger where the sun doesn’t shine. I love tasting beer not only because it’s my passion but also because I love discovering all the new tastes that accompany that exploration into the world of brewing. I found this saison and couldn’t resist trying it as it is brewed using beetroot and raspberries. I couldn’t quite decide if it sounded rather tasty or like a bit of a nightmare in a bottle. I think for the most part though it worked quite well.
The colour of the beetroot and raspberries really filtered through giving the beer a tangerine orange hued body. It was cloudy and reminiscent of a multivitamin juice drink or some sort of proper scrumpy cider. Sediment was very prominently on display in the glass. It formed a slight off white head. I could tell from the pour that it definitely had a bit of body to it. As it’s a saison I expected some tartness in the aroma and it was there on cue. A red currant sourness breaks through first along with a sour cider nose that is then backed up with hits of blackcurrant and a boiled vegetable quality. Upon tasting it had a full sourness that faded to a nice slightly unripe strawberry sweetness. It was drying and made me suck in the cheeks. The high alcohol content was hidden quite deeply and only surfaced in the throat a while after swallowing. The sweet earthiness of the beetroot fused nicely with this farmhouse style of beer. The taste profile changed when it got warmer, with the raspberries starting to pull through a little more.
The worst thing about this beer is probably the terrible label. The bottles of Jus Zombie I received looked different from the picture seen here to the left. On our labels the cool zombie fist picture was tiny and placed to the side of the bottle while the main area was taken with pretty ugly text. I mean the label looked like it was made in Windows paint with clip art in about 10 minutes. Maybe I received old stock, I’m not sure. I hope they stick with the label pictured though as it’s much prettier. Apart from the aesthetic drawbacks, I liked this. It was surprisingly easy to drink for being a 7.5% saison and I could easily manage a few of these in a session. I can now say I tried a beetroot beer and I enjoyed it. Still not sure about the finger thing though.