Vière is a French word for a co-fermented alcoholic beverage made from wine (vin), grapes, or grape skins, and beer (bière). In the U.S., it is also known as viere, grape ale, oenobeer, or simply put, a co-ferment.
Since viere is a relatively new kind of alcoholic beverage in the United States, it is an exciting time for Hudson Valley fruit and hops growers and alcoholic beverage makers to experiment with these co-fermented beverages. Viere, the perfect marriage of wine and beer (or cider) is breaking boundaries at more than several Hudson Valley breweries and cideries.
The intermixing and merging of similar styles in the production of wine, beer, and ciders is one example of a growing trend that is occurring in the beverage industry. For years, beer makers on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean have been adding fruit such as cherries, raspberries, and currants to broaden the flavor profiles of their beers.
More recently, brewers have been experimenting with “natural” beers such as ‘sours’—beers that contain brett (a yeast strain called brettanomyces), volatile acidity (also known as VA or vinegar), and other microbes that ten years ago would be considered off-putting flavors. In addition, they have been making cloudy beers such as ‘hazy’ IPAs; beers flavored with pineapples, grapefruit, and ginger; and ‘gose’-style beers that are wheat, barley, oats, and rye-based flavored with coriander and other spices, or oranges and limes.
Simultaneously, in the wine industry, winemakers are more focused on making “natural wines” from organic grapes with minimal intervention, often by not adding commercial yeasts or sulfur. These natural wines include Pet-Nats, Piquettes, and Pétillant wines, and are similar in appearance, body, and flavor profile to the beer styles mentioned above. So it makes sense that we are now seeing the merging of similar styles in the making of beer, wine, and cider.
You ferment the two together, and you get the best of both worlds…the texture of beer with the flavor of wine.
– Master Rémy Maurin of Gallia Brewery, just north of Paris, from The New Yorker Magazine
Here in the Hudson Valley I have been working with local beverage makers to produce viere with the cool climate grape varieties I grow in my vineyard, Cedar Cliff Vineyards, in Athens, NY. Grapes such as Baco Noir, Bacchus, Agawam, Burdin Noir, Le Colonel, Seyval Blanc, and Vidal Blanc each have a very different flavor profile, so the flavors and texture of the end result is varied.
Aside from the diverse grape varieties that are being used, each brewmaster has a different approach to making viere based on the type of beer they choose to use as the foundation. The base can be a pilsner, ale, kolsch, IPA, lager, bitter, or Hefeweizen, with different levels of alcohol. Hard cider can also be used to make viere—there are many different styles of apple and pear ciders that lend themselves to making interesting co-fermented beverages.
Fresh grapes, grape skins, or a new wine is added to whichever base is chosen to make the style of viere that the brewmaster or cider maker is looking to create.
Fermenting a Sustainable Future
With so many styles of viere being produced, the potential of these co-ferments to promote sustainable Heritage grape growing is just starting to heat up. At my farm I evaluate more than 90 grape varieties to see which are the most hardy and which can be grown with few or no insecticides and fungicides, and which can cope better with the changing climate. Aside from violent weather patterns which can injure or kill certain grape varieties, these climatic changes are substantially reducing growers’ production levels to the point that making a living in farming in the Hudson Valley and other parts of the Northern Hemisphere is becoming less viable.
When you are out and about in the Hudson Valley, seek out the taprooms below and try viere for yourself to appreciate the future of these sustainable beverages.
Viere Around the Valley
SUBVERSIVE BREWERY, Catskill, NY
Subversive released its first Heritage Grape Ale last year. The viere is made from grapes varieties including Baco Noir and other Heritage grapes that were created by 19th-century, mid-Hudson Valley hybridizers J. H. Ricketts, A. J. Caywood, Dr. William Grant, and the Underhill Family. These include Bacchus, Black Eagle, Jefferson, Eumelan, and Delaware grapes.
Brewmaster Zane Coffey says that the base beer of his viere is a simple recipe comprised of pilsner malt and local flaked wheat with very low amounts of hops in the boil. It was fermented jointly with the Hudson Valley heritage grape varieties. “This recipe gives just enough character to provide a backbone for the beverage, while not overwhelming the delicate character from the grapes,” says Coffey.
Though the first year’s viere ventured into uncharted territory and was sold as a draft-only option in the taproom, they knew what they were after. They’ve since made some changes to make this hybrid beverage shine. “I am really excited about how it turned out,” says Coffey.
“This year we lightened the body of the base beer, changed our yeast, and we really nailed the character we wanted,” notes Coffey. “I describe our Heritage Grape Ale as almost like a wine spritzer. The body is light and the carbonation makes the fruit character pop out of the glass. It pours a lovely ruby/purple color with a bright white head, and keeps bringing you back to the glass for more.”
So much more, in fact, that they made a larger batch and canned a good portion of it for sale in their taproom.
“The vintage woodcut on the purple-hued label designed by Lily McCabe tells the story of these amazing grapes and communicates to our customers how special this beer is,” notes Coffey.
BREWERY LAHOFF, Climax, NY
Brewmaster Andre Latour’s Isabella Hudson Harvest Ale is popular in the taproom. This co-fermented viere is a wheat ale brewed with Hudson Valley white wheat and the addition of Isabella grapes.
Isabella is a Heritage grape variety that dates back to 1816. It was initially found in the garden of Isabella Gibbs in Brooklyn, NY, by nurseryman William Prince, owner of the Linnaean Botanic Garden in Flushing, NY. Once popular on the East Coast in the mid-19th century, Isabella, which is starting to make a comeback here, found a home in a wide range of places such as Moldova, India, and Brazil due to its winter hardiness, ability to withstand high temperatures, fungus disease resistance, and high productivity.
“Our viere appeals to beer enthusiasts and wine drinkers alike. It’s a beer that almost drinks like wine,” says Latour. “As you imbibe, you are able to explore the unique characteristics of both wine and beer simultaneously.”
Brewery LaHoff also makes another viere called Intermix Hazy IPA that includes the white wine grape variety Sauvignon Blanc.
LaTour finds that this beverage “is more malt forward.” “There is no question that you are drinking a beer, but the Sauvignon Blanc is used to accentuate and compliment the hops for flavor and aroma.”
RETURN BREWING, Hudson, NY
Brewer and co-owner JD Linderman has been experimenting with a viere called Pastel Palace, which has as its base a sour ale with strawberries. The cool climate grape varieties added to the beverage include Burdin 6055, Annie Noir, Le Colonel, Verdelet, and Concord, all grown at Cedar Cliff Vineyards.
These grape varieties are winter hardy, fungus disease resistant, productive, and can be grown sustainably with fewer pesticides than most other grape varieties that are now commercially grown.
“It’s a nuanced, bright, easy drinker that people will have a lot of fun sharing bottles of,” says Linderman.
“The blend is pretty remarkable—the base beer had strawberry refermented directly into it, but the bright fruitiness of the grapes makes for a far more intense strawberry taste than we had originally thought possible,” adds co-owner and co-formulator Mikey Lenane.
HEARTSBY TRUE CIDERY, CATSKILL, NY
At Heartsby True, Denny Brownell is creating his own style of a viere, but with an apple cider base. As with beer, there are many different styles of hard cider that can serve as a base, depending on the apple varieties and the yeast strain used to ferment the apples.
Brownell concentrates on hand-foraging wild apples and pears which he ferments with wild native yeasts that are present on the fruit he gathered. Sometimes Brownell also adds sour cherries to his ciders.
For his viere, Brownell added fresh Baco Noir grapes from Cedar Cliff Vineyards to the base apple cider. This co-fermented cider underwent barrel aging and is ready for consumption now.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stephen Casscles is the owner of Cedar Cliff Vineyards and Nursery in Athens, NY. Casscles specializes in the cultivation and propagation of 19th-century Heritage grape varieties from the Hudson Valley, Boston’s North Shore, and other cool climate grape varieties that can be grown sustainably. Casscles has been a winemaker for over 45 years who has worked at local wineries including Benmarl Vineyards in Marlboro, NY, and Hudson-Chatham Winery in Ghent, NY. Currently, he is a winemaker at Dear Native Grapes Winery in Walton, NY. Casscles is interested in finding and promoting new uses for Heritage grape varieties to produce new styles of alcoholic beverages such as viere, in addition to producing conventional and natural wines from his grapes.
