España: New beer brewed from Alava potatoes
A team of students from the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU) have created a potato beer, which they have launched under the "Gastheiz" brand, in honour of Vitoria, and which they aim to make the Alava beer par excellence.
According to their promoters, the chemical engineer Ainhoa Ocio and the Head of Communication Jone Conde, the new drink "symbolises the pride of being an Alava citizen," a territory where potato cultivation is a sign of identity, to the point that its inhabitants are called "patateros".
"In Euskadi, there are hundreds of thousands of people who consider us ’patateras’, and we are proud of it. And as the ’patateras’ that we are, our beer could only be brewed from potatoes," stressed Ainhoa Ocio in a statement.
This beer, made from potatoes planted and harvested in Alava, hops, malt and barley, is handcrafted and requires two of the most typical tuber varieties of this province, called Miren and Mona Lisa, due to their natural properties and their high starch content.
After a year of work, the young researcher obtained this product, in which the malt helps decompose the starch of the potatoes, which are used in several stages of the process to make sure the beer retains the flavour.
The two promoters of "Gastheiz" beer recalled that, with their initiative, they are following the example of the first brewers; women who invented and elaborated it more than 7,000 years ago in Mesopotamia and Sumer.
They have now produced a first symbolic batch, an edition limited to 1,181 bottles, which will be distributed among well-known Alava citizens, to which they want to pay their particular tribute. They have launched that specific number of bottles in memory to the year of the foundation of Vitoria by Navarrese king, Sancho the Sixth.
Fuente: http://www.freshplaza.com/article/169361/Spain-New-beer-brewed-from-Alava-potatoes
