I’ve been knocked back by a cold for the past week, which rendered me unable to enjoy the subtler points of a decent beer. But now I think I can get into my stash of beers that I bought myself for the purpose of a review.
Tocayo Brewing Company is a joint venture with Chicago chef Rick Bayless and Constellation Brands, to make Mexican-inspired beer that, I’m guessing would pair well with his culinary creations. Their main product so far has been Hominy White Ale, made for them at Two Brothers in Warrenville. The beer is based on a Belgian wit, with the requisite orange peel and coriander spice, and is also brewed with hominy, dried corn treated with lye that become the big white kernels in cans, or is ground into grits or masa. So in other words, it’s a bit of a different approach to a corn adjunct.
The initial pour is a hazy dark yellow, close to brass, with a big puffy white head kicking up in my narrow glass. The small has a bit of tartness with might come more from the wheat in the grist.
Taste has citrus at the top, and maybe a bit of a mineral component that could come from the hominy, perhaps aided by the conditioning of the water. The adjunct also give me a bit of a fusel alcohol sensation. There also was a bit of yeast settled to the bottom of the can, which is typical for the Belgian style, though it’s always a surprise to find in the can. So that dropped in a yeast afterbite. Something of a milk sourness at the end as well.
By itself and from a can, I did not find it especially endearing, but I will hope to catch it on tap and paired with some food meant to go with it.
