Friday, July 22, 2011

Ballast Point Brewing Company - Indra Kunindra

A few weeks ago, Ballast Point announced that they had brewed a new beer. I'm always excited to try anything new that Ballast comes up with, but when I saw the ingredients in this one, I was a little thrown off. Their new beer, which they call Indra Kunindra, is a stout brewed with...madras curry, kaffir lime leaves, toasted coconut, cumin and cayenne. Curry and beer together? There's no possible way that could work. Or could it?

Indra Kunindra pours a black color with a very thin tan head. The first whiff I took of this beer almost knocked me out. It smelled like walking into an exceptionally aromatic Thai restaurant. Huge notes off yellow curry, full of coconut milk, cumin and spices erupted from the glass. Smell wise, this beer certainly nailed the curry element.

You would think (as I did) that there is no possible way that a curry beer could taste good, no matter who makes it. But Indra Kunindra does taste good. In fact, it tastes amazing. The curry hits your palette immediately. It's a smooth, rich flavor with the toasted coconut flavor coming in right after. Right around the middle of the taste, the cayenne comes in with just a touch of spiciness. On the finish, a slight taste of roasted malts and cocoa powder come in, reminding you that you are in fact drinking a stout. I don't know exactly how they did it, but Ballast Point absolutely nailed it on this one. It's probably my favorite experimental beer they've ever come up with. I'm not sure how much of this Ballast Point brewed, but I definitely hope to see it around town in the near future.

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