Beer For Pizza
Off Color Brewing

 

 

alot like a cola for sure. nailed the look and nose, wish i had some pizza.

this is crazy stuff, modeled on a cola, which of course has been promoted as the classic pizza drink. its brewed with all kinds of wild ingredients including dark sugar syrup, kola nut, vanilla, lime juice, citrus zest, orange blossom, cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, and citric acid, how totally weird, but this honestly tastes like cola and beer had a baby, its surprisingly dry and refreshing, and sounds like a gimmick but doesnt drink like one, its remarkable, even without the pizza for context. its dark brown and fizzy like a cola but without the viscosity or obvious sugar, this is actually fermented pretty dry thankfully, since i bought the whole four pack with high hopes instead of a single, glad it wasnt too sweet to drink them all. the citrus and the spices work so well together, hard to really pick out anything on its own, the same way that is true in the soda, but they all do their thing. perhaps lime and cinnamon lead the charge, but nothing stands out too much, there isnt a vanilla overdose, and the sugar syrup and citric acid elements also contribute to the cola character. some caffeine to this i reckon too, highly effervescent in mouthfeel, earthy and sort of organic to me, its somehow well grounded and still tastes like beer just enough. this is honesty quite drinkable with its effervescence, dryness, and low alcohol content, and its kind of what i wish normal cola tasted like. easily the most outlandish beer ive had from this series so far, but i also love it at the same time. a strange idea but the execution is near perfect. these guys can do no wrong, and their label art is fire!

 

Poured from a 16 oz. can. Has a cola color with a 2 inch head. Smell is of nutmeg, ginger. Taste is like cola but with ginger, nutmeg, and a bit of vanilla. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is a unique and decent beer, but I wouldn't want a steady diet of it.

 

As a child, I remember one of my favorite flavor combination being that of a local Venetian-style pizza and an ice cold pop. (Yes, where I'm from, we called it "pop".) So of course Off Color's beer made for pizza will hit a soft spot.

Russet brown and rusty with a chestnut haze, Beer For Pizza releases a partly fizzy, partly frothy cap before teasing the nose with an RC Cola type of spicy sweetness. Nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and cardamom simmer in a somber peppery character while a twinge of tartness speaks to something enticing and unique. Caramel, toast and sucrose hit the tongue with a much more tempered sweetness than actual cola.

Also unlike cola, the sweetness fades fairly quickly and leaves the spices to rise on the middle palate. The spices are all equal and mild mannered and await a the acidity of the beer to both balance the spices and to clean up the lingering, sugary malts. Toast, nuttiness, light coffee and cocoa wrap around the spicy tartness before a late taste of light cider adds even more curiosity and confusion.

Although amply carbonated, the beer also carries a flatness and staleness, much like those lemon colas that have been left out a little too long. Finishing toasty sweet and lightly tacky, an aftertaste of nuttiness and general cola extends into a medium length aftertaste. I appreciate Off Color to taking me down memory lane, but I'm sure glad that my pizza companion is now more mainstream beer.

 

 

Pours a cola brown color - no really, it looks exactly like Coca Cola when its poured. Thin one finger brown fizzy head appears and then quickly disappears. Given what they are going for here - this definitely looks like a cola.

Aroma is interesting - its got notes of spicy ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, with some light citrus notes, vanilla and syrup sweetness. Its similar to coca cola on the nose, but its more like a craft soda interpretation of Coca Cola - the herbs and spices on the nose are very prominent and spicy with this spicy ginger like note. Again, going what they were going for, this is a pretty good facsimile of Coca Cola albeit a much more spicy and less sweet version.

The taste is ... unexpected. There is this tangy, zesty note with a strong spiced cacophony of notes of cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg and ginger. There is no sweetness on the palate. In terms of what they were going for, I did not find this particularly reminiscent of Coca Cola - even a more spicy craft version. I had trouble getting through much of this - the spice really dominates the flavor.

Feel is light. Moderate carbonation - under carbonated if they are trying to capture a Coca Cola soda. Pretty dry.

Overall its an interesting beer. I get what they were going for on this one - but its just not there for me.

 

I'm not a soda fan, but I am a very, very big fan of Off Color. So, Beer for Pizza creates a dilemma.

I'm a fan of Off Color because they are funny. This can is funny. Their website often is riotously funny. And Beer for Pizza is a funny idea. But, cola is hard to take seriously as a key part of a beer. Beer's premise is that malts are kept from being too sweet by spices. So when corn syrup gets into the act, I leave the show. All Pizza for Beer really shows me is that this master brewer knows how to make good soda, too. Not everything Off Color does is seriously funny.

This is such a weird beer. I'm basically drinking a Coke with 4.5% ABV. It nails the concept of a cola beer, for sure, but I also don't drink soda. It even is a bit more carbonated than a typical beer.

Tasted in a Rastal Teku glass from a one pint can on November 3, 2020. Malts: Vienna, Crystal. Hops: Nugget. Natural flavors: dark sugar, syrup, Kola nut, lime juice, vanilla, lemon zest, orange zest, orange blossom, cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg, citric acid. Another interesting release from one of my favorite breweries.

Beer for Pizza is one of a kind. It is a cola inspired beer that contains kola nut, citrus, and dark sugar syrup. It really does imitate the popular soda as the sugar and citrus really pop. Even the color is spot on, a rich caramel brown. What's nice about this one is that it is light, low ABV, and still tastes like a beer. That is sometimes lost in these renditions. Perfect with pizza or any other comfort foods.

IG: @firesidewithphil

Wacky novelty beer, cola-like in appearance, feel, and flavor. Dark brown and fizzy, head disappears after the pour like cola does. Aroma of lime and kola nut, maybe a tiny bit of vanilla.

Taste is interesting, more of a naturally flavored cola without the cloying sweetness. Dry nutmeg aftertaste, tart lime up front, some nuttiness, orange peel. Light feel, tiny bit of sweetness and dry in the finish.

Overall, it’s a successful experiment, though i’m glad I just got a single. If you like craft sodas, this may be the beer for you.

 

Very cool, tastes and looks like a cola. The pour even had a quick fizz that went away. Not something I'd want to drink a lot of but a neat experiment.