Yes, believe it or not, some German craft brewers have started to experiment with fruity flavours in their beers. But before I have you all up in arms about the Reinheitsgebot (Purity law), they are adding nothing more to the beer than the normal water, malt, hops and yeast.
So how are they doing it then? In a word, hops. There has been an explosion of available hops varieties in recent years, thanks mostly to the rise of craft brewing in the states, and hops contribute to the flavour as well as providing the bitterness. One hops variety that is becoming very popular is Citra, which imparts interesting citrus and tropical fruit flavours.
According to an article on the Booze News website, one German hop breeder states that up until a few years ago he used to throw away any hop seedlings that imparted such flavours, but is now actively selecting them. The tide is turning to be sure.
I, for one, look very forward to the interesting beers that should be coming our way soon.
Click here to go to the story on the Booze News website.