Ferran Adrià does beer

Here's Florence Fabricant's "Food Stuff" feature on his new brew (above), from today's New York Times Dining section.

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From a Revered Chef, a Beer That Behaves Like Wine

Ferran Adrià, who is widely credited with starting the trend of foam on food, has turned his attention to another kind of suds: beer.

Mr. Adrià is the chef of El Bulli, the Michelin three-star restaurant in Roses, Spain. He and his partner, Juli Soler, plus two of his sommeliers have created a beer for the 100-year-old brewery Estrella Damm of Barcelona. “The idea was to make a beer to drink with food, from a wineglass,” Mr. Adrià said last week during a visit to New York.

The successful result has a floral aroma that hints of citrus and spice, and a flavor that is mild, fruity and balanced, like an adolescent chardonnay. Its name, Inedit, means “original” in French.

It actually starts as two beers, Mr. Adrià said: a straightforward lager and a German-style weissbier that is seasoned with orange peel, coriander and licorice. Because each ferments at a different rate, the beers are not blended until just before bottling in black 750-milliliter wine bottles. The marriage undergoes a second fermentation in the bottle, like Champagne.

The beer is unfiltered, making it slightly cloudy. It has 4.5 percent alcohol and delicate yet persistent carbonation. Inedit is sold at Whole Foods markets for $9.99 a bottle.