Beer + Wine = Cider

I had no real idea what I was buying when I impulsively threw this bottle into my shopping basket at an LCBO in Toronto. It's called Ilegal, it's from Chile, and it's a blend of beer and Sauvignon blanc wine, refermented in the bottle. Don't expect importation to Ireland soon: I imagine it would be a taxation nightmare. The ABV finishes up at 6.3%.

It poured out looking like a cider: a bright, Golden Delicious yellow, with a busy sparkle leaping out of the glass, but not forming a head. The flavour too reminds me of cider more than anything else. There's an appley crispness, the dry bite accentuated by the carbonation. I got signature Sauvignon blanc fruit in the foretaste — gooseberry, kiwi, Granny Smith — but the back has a snap of crispbread, which I'm assuming is the malt at work.

I'm not really sure what to make of this. The wine side is too sweet and obvious to make it one of those beautifully constructed champagne beers or grape ales, and at the same time it's a little too heavy to offer casual refreshment. In fact I'd say you could recreate it easily enough with a splash of Oyster Bay and any can of mainstream lager, not that I recommend doing that.