Fonio
Kiitos Brewing

really weird and as far as i know one of a kind stuff, brewed with 100% fonio, a west african grain on the rise in craft brewing right now, but this is the first one i know of to use nothing but fonio, and its not like anything else ive ever had. not even really sure what it is, other than a specialty grain beer, like dont even know if its a lager or an ale, but field beer seems the most appropriate style space to place this in for now, at least by the style parameters defined by BA, really unique. it pours almost clear, rather lightly cloudy clear, like the original hopwaters looked, but not yellow even a little but, more a seltzer than a beer in the glass, but this is grain derived for sure, wild! holds a touch of head, but is visually so confusing. is fonio malted? is it really this colorless? the crazy thing is that it has a pretty prominent aroma, like tropical fruity, almost terpene forward, thought maybe a hop product of even a fruit additive in here, but they say no, passion fruit, white grape, fresh pineapple, berry-like sativa, a little candied and concentrated but not sweet, and no malt here at all in the traditional sense, not earthy, crackery, even mineral content seems to be lacking, the fonio is novel but it presents as almost neutral from a classic grain sense. the flavor seems like flavor added, tropical again, mandarin orange and passion fruit, light twang maybe adding to that, some texture but its immediately a little watery and unbeery to me, with a floral intensity, no real grounding, and it does end up a bit seltzer-esque. if all this flavor is in fact from the grain, new sensory possibilities for beer have certainly beer unlocked by this, but perhaps all fonio maybe too far a departure from what someone seeking a beer, even a creative and odd one, would find agreeable. its not unpleasant to drink, but it doesnt drink like a beer, so there is that aspect to grapple with, but i love it being fruity and interesting, sustainable, and novel from a process standpoint. i suspect the innovation around fonio will continue and accelerate, and this may end up being a sort of milestone beer for where craft is headed when we look back on it in a decade or two. for now, its a little far from the beer target for me, not really grainy or hoppy, fruity only, and is more exciting for what it represents than how it tastes. good carbonation, light body, weird as heck, definite terpene and hopwater vibes to it, i have not known this character from other fonio beers, but this is groundbreaking for sure and i give it a ton of credit for that, curious where they go from here with this, looks like some flavored and blended versions already exist, hope to track those down before too long. well worth seeking out for something entirely different!