I’d be remiss to not point out this piece from yesterday’s NYT, on the boom in . . . wait for it . . . organic/artisanal/small-batch wheat farming. Hello, New York publishers! This is so money! Where is my book deal??

Oh right. I haven’t finished the proposal. Right.

Anyway. The piece (which is focused on the revival of small-scale wheat farming in upstate New York) notes that small-batch wheat is hard to work with. Flavor, moisture, and gluten content can vary from season to season, posing a particular challenge to bakers, whose craft often relies on finely calibrated measurements to create a consistent muffin or loaf of bread.

This made me flash back to early this summer, when I picked up a plastic cup of Island Wheat at the 25th anniversary party for KK Fiske–the first I’d had in a while–and was surprised by how different it tasted. Frankly, it wasn’t as good as I remembered: it seemed thinner, more mass-market in flavor. It may well be that they changed the recipe;* I switched to the Rustic Ale and consequently, unsurprisingly, forgot to ask. But when I mentioned it to Leah she pointed out that it could just as well be a reflection of a particular crop.

How long is it going to be, I wonder, before people start talking about the terroir of beer? 

 

* This guy seems to agree and offers some insight; I also, fwiw, noted the weird “metallic taste.”