OnTap Magazine

hen I first joined the ranks of Drifter Brewing Company, I was already aware of their reputation for brilliantly bridging the gaps between concept and reality; transposing ideas into legendary brews such as ocean-aged tripels, gose brewed with seawater, and oyster beer. Excited for my own turn at an unrestrained concoction, I was thrilled when Gourmet Grubb came over to discuss a collaboration using their edible insects. A few of my colleagues took this “bug beer” idea with surprising apprehension, which only hardened my resolve to make something truly enjoyable. There are several historical and modern day instances of brewing with proteins such as red meat, roosters, and the aforementioned oysters to name a few, giving some valid pretext to our project. This beer was meticulously designed as a supporting structure to showcase the menagerie of flavour provided by the insects. The goal was to make a nut brown ale, sourcing the nut flavours from a combination of mopane worms, mealworms and black soldier fly larvae. In a meeting with Leah and Jean from Gourmet Grubb, we developed flavour profiles for the three insect varieties, and balanced them accordingly. Their aroma alone broke down all my reservations about consuming insects, and I found myself finishing all the samples like a bag of savoury snacks. I was pleased to learn how high in protein they were, and compared to the mammal sources we normally consume, they produce a mere fraction of the greenhouse gases. Combine that with the minuscule amount of water, land and food needed and edible insects are clearly going to secure their place in a more sustainable future that this planet, not to mention our species, urgently needs. We wanted to present this idea to an open minded market: craft beer consumers. BUG BROWN ALE The nut brown ale is a style that became defined in 18th-century England, although it was technically being brewed many centuries prior without much documentation, and in other regions throughout mainland Europe. Back then, before modern malting, beer was generally made by women in the home. The grain was dried and roasted over fires, taking on the flavours of the often very smoky fuel sources, and even the foods being cooked. Predating modern conveniences such as base malt, the beers produced in this style had a typical brown hue and a smoky, roasty profile. Modernisation of the industry led to a resurgence of the brown ale. No longer brewed with an abundance of dark and smoked malts, it separated itself from historical porters and transformed into the style we know today. The American craft brewing scene took it a step further, often playing up the nutty flavours – and that’s where the bugs came in. The mealworms presented strong notes of peanut and cashew infused within the tastiest of all lipids, the great conduit of gastronomical pleasure: fat. The black soldier fly larvae were larger, darker, and slightly more removed from familiarity than the mealworms. Their small stature and puffed rice texture could have never alluded to their earthy, umami-laced depth. Mopane worms, a uniquely African caterpillar that feeds on the mopane tree, truly surprisedmewithan incredibly savoury piquancy that invoked fond memories of losing my biltong virginity. Edible insects are clearly going to secure their place in a more sustainable future Black soldier fly larvae ontapmag.co.za | Summer 2019 | 49