Whenever Tron Brewery’s brewer and I meet, we always cause a disruption at the bar. He’s been in Spain, and speaks a fair amount of Spanish with that lisping Spanish accent. My Spanish comes from all over Latin America. Like Latinos, we shout at each other in Spanish, leaving the Serbs around us confused. I last ran into him at the Tron Brewery Heartbeet Red Beet IPA debut.
“Hey, tio. What do you think of it?”
My face twitched and I grimaced.
“Ok. I can see by your face that you don’t like it.”
“Te lo juro, wey, I never liked the flavor of, of…”
I forgot how to say ‘beet’ in Spanish (remolacha). It’s not something that normally comes up at a craft beer opening, much less one in Serbia. Yet Tron Brewery took a wild risk in making an IPA with red beet. Beets are one of those foods, like brussel sprouts, that your parents make you eat as kid because they are very healthy for you. Naturally, you hate them.
But I gave this beer a second chance. And a third. And more…
Maybe Serbs just prefer beets. I’m a fan of Tron Brewery, so I figured my beet aversion was the only thing getting in the way of enjoying this beer. Eventually, I started savoring the earthy yet sweet flavor of this vegetable.
Really, Heartbeet IPA is a weird beer. The electric purple-red color looks like blood from a B-List horror film. This beer glows. Even the light foamy head has a cool pink tint to it. When I first poured it, I thought it was artificial coloring. But no: that’s naturally ground beet juice.
The aroma is similar to a red IPA. It’s citrusy and sweet up front, with a slight piney aspect from the Chinook hops. It took a few times before I caught the vegetable aroma. It’s only when you drink the beer that the real smoky, earthy flavor is obvious. A tropical sweet hoppiness balances out the heavy flavors. The mouthfeel is sticky and malty.
Only a handful of brewers in the world have experimented with red beet. So, regardless of your opinion of the vegetable, this is one beer you must have if you are in Serbia.
