 |
|
| Consumer Trends |
|
| Flavors Bring New Fun to the World of Beer |
|
“Beer is the beverage of celebration, of the shared harvest and communal prosperity. It’s what we drink at town festivals and picnics in the park, beach parties and block parties, family reunions and friendly get-togethers.” —Bruce Aidells and Denis Kelly, authors of Real Beer and Great Eats (Alfred A. Knopf., Inc.)
That natural association of beer and fun seems to have inspired the original Oktoberfest and other folk festivals around the world. Bavaria in Germany, home of Oktoberfest, is also where, in 1516, Duke Wilhelm IV pronounced his Beer Purity Law or “Reinheitsgebot.” As a result, even today, nothing goes into beer made in Germany, for consumption there, except barley, malt, hops, water, yeast, and malted wheat.
Outside of Germany, brewers are tapping flavor variations to bring a fresh face to the category, according to Mintel market research. The company's trend analysts report citrus flavors bubbling up in the European market, while fruit-flavored beers start to emerge in several places. In Israel, there's strawberry flavored “black beer”; in Finland, cherry; in the U.K, passionfruit; and in South Africa, apple flavor. Energy ingredients, such as caffeine or the Brazilian plant guarana, are also trendy.
Last summer Prague Post reporter Evan Rale introduced his readers to: Alba, a Scottish beer brewed with spruce and pine needles instead of hops; Heather Ale's beers tasting of Scottish plants like kelp, elderberry, and gooseberry; and a brew from the Czech Republic made from nettles,herbs reputed to have medicinal uses.
Speaking of medicinal uses, the monks of Neuzeller Kloster-Brauerei, who claim to have been brewing beer since the 13th century, have introduced an “anti-aging” beer. Special ingredients include water from hot springs, flavonoids (natural anti-oxidants), and spirulina (algae).
Also new in Mintel's database this year: a coffee-and-rum-flavored premium malt beverage in the U.S.; a dark beer with chocolate malt and real dark chocolate in the Netherlands; and in France, a ginger beer and one flavored with absinthe, an anise-flavored liqueur reputed to be an aphrodisiac and illegal in some countries.
|
|
|
|
