A Little Bit About Pie Theory

You might have read a few of my beer reviews and came across a reference to something called "Pie Theory." Don't be alarmed. It's not something that's included in the vernacular of the beer community. Like Rocky Balboa said on the news while punching meat in a cooler: "I think I invented it."


Pie Theory is something I came up with that best describes an experience you can have with a variety of beers out there. In my book, Pie Theory comes into play mainly with fruit and pumpkin beers.

I believe that in order to fully enjoy a fruit beer, that beer needs to resemble some form of a dessert. I guess you can say that the fruit resembles the filling inside of a well-crafted pie. As for the crust, this is where the yeast/bread presence comes into play.

If you understand the facets of beer history you know that beer is pretty much known as liquid bread. This is also a big part of the reason we enjoy pairing cheese with different types of beers. In ancient times, pairing these two items provided a multitude of nutrition. Beer combined water and bread. The cheese was the dairy. We still enjoy much of the same today.

Amazingly enough, beer can be used in similar, but different ways. Pie Theory is what I decided to get out of drinking fruit beers. When my family gathers, my favorite course is usually dessert. I always love a good slice of blueberry or cherry pie. There are a lot of fruit beers out there that have a lovely fruit presence and a good yeast/crust character as a good backbone. Think of it this way. Beer can be a bit less filling than pie and a bit healthier. The sugar is eaten by the yeast and converted to alcohol!

Beer Review: Flying Dog Sour Cherry Ale

Serving Type: Draft

ABV: 4.7 percent

Appearance: Flying Dog's Sour Cherry Ale instantly reminded me of the old Raspberry 7Up my grandmother would serve at the kids table during Thanksgiving. It was a slightly hazy hot pink with plenty of visible carbonation. The head was white and thin.

Smell: I got a strong sense of tart cherries at the initial waft. I'm sure this wasn't a sour, but it smelled pretty close. A somewhat strong backbone of wheat was behind the cherries, giving off a sense of cherry pie.

Taste: The tartness and sourness of those cherries was prominent in the beer's flavor. The wheat flavor doesn't kick in until the after taste hits. It's a very interesting flavor when the wheat finally mixes with the tart of the cherries. It reminded me of a pie crust, which is in my opinion the best part of any pie. This would be awesome as a dessert beer.

Overall Rating: 

The body of the beer reminded me of pop or soda, depending on where you're from, but the combination of tart cherries and what reminded me of pie crust made up some big ground in the points department.