Rosé Beer: Uniting Beer and Wine Lovers

We live in an era of innovation, so there’s no need for beer and wine lovers to still be divided over their preferred drinks. Like a holy matrimony, rosé beer combines two great tastes into a simply marvelous drink. Though it has been around for some time, it is one of the newer beer trends to hit popularity within the market, and it is certainly worth trying firsthand.

According to the beer snobs of the Great American Beer Festival, rosé beer is not included among the 102 major beer styles currently recognized by the event. That doesn’t mean it can’t be counted as a hybrid, and that is exactly companies like Avery Brewing and Dogfish do. The beer/wine hybrid, rosé beer uses grapes as a fermentable to produce the beer. 

Rosé wine has become an exceptionally popular drink, especially among the brunch crowds, so innovators did what they do best, and thus the rosé beer was born. As many brewers say that a beer is first experienced via sight, rosé beer takes the cake when it comes to appearance, with a silky pink look that just begs to be sipped.

This signature color comes from a variety of sources, depending on the brewer. Some rosé beers are brewed in barrels along with red fruits like raspberries to get that signature color. Others utilize a complex process of grapes and spices to achieve this. But with all rosé beers, you can expect similar floral characteristics thanks to the popular addition of hibiscus.

Rosé beer is made by a variety of brewers throughout California. Firestone Walker Brewing Company has a flagship product called the Rosalie, a delicate rosé beer made with a variety of local wine groups, including Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Muscat. Calicraft Brewing Company of Walnut Creek has its Reserve Rosé, a high-ABV option with notes of cherries and raspberries along with the signature grapes. 

The cool part about rosé beer is that it offers an entirely new palate to be explored when it comes to craft beer. While it most likely will not be replacing the IPA wave, it is another fun and innovative niche that begs to be considered by any fan.