B United is uniting with nature in the western hills of Connecticut

Nestled into hills is the headquarters of an beer importer named B. United yet they are so much more. 

I’m not sure how the beer importer B. United got its name but its ethos I’m pretty sure is built into it. It’s mission perhaps is to “be united” with its environment. 

Earlier this past summer I was fortunate to be the guest of B. United, an importer of beer, in western Connecticut. Truthfully the company is so much more than an importer. It experiments with food, and it finishes beer at its location—kind of like an affineur does with cheese.

I arrived mid-morning at their facility in Oxford to find others also in the the wine and spirits industry. 

I knew we were off to a fine start when we were invited to have a beautifully hand pulled espresso and some rosemary cake. It was made all the more special by the fact that they roast their own beans, the flour for the cake was ground on premise, and the rosemary was also grown on site. 

We broke into small groups and got ready for six different seminars and tastings that would open our eyes to what is possible.

Sake Tasting with David Frost

The sake nomenclature can be as confusing as that of any other beverage but David gave us a good run-thru of terms. While this wasn’t an indepth seminar on the premier rice beverage, it certainly set us on the right path.

Kurashizuku Junmai Ginjo Usu Nigori

This is an unfiltered sake that showed a bit of cloudiness and had a little bit of sparkle. It had a forward nose with______flavors that can be a little alcoholic. It has a little grassiness to it. 

Note: Daiginjo=50% polished
Ginjo=60% polished

Gekkakow Koshu Bottled in 2017 (brewed in 2014)
Clear. 3 years aged in stainless steel. Soft subtle white peach, white flowers, soft soursop flavors. Subtle and lovely.

Gekkakow 2002 vintage
Nose a bit more mushroom. Mellow, soft, licorice, anise. Short soft finish.

Note: Junmai=made only with rice, water, koji, yeast

Honjumai=made with the above but alcohol also added

Gekkadow 1986 vintage
Lovely boxed presentation. Color has some greenish tints, complex aromas, viscous mouth feel. Subtle flavors, spicy white pepper finish, white fruit. The finish is flat fruit. Although not aged in cedar it does have some cedar notes to it. Not inexpensive.

Kiuchi Brewery Hitachino Nest Awashizuku
This is a sparkling sake. It is sweet and sparkling and a bit of a shock to the palate. I think of this as a good introduction to people who people who like sweet, sparkle and want to try something new.

Note: SMV=Sake Meter Value; a scale that evaluates sake sweetness 

Kiuchi Yuzu wine
Lovely citrus and pear aromas. Delicate and delicious on the palate. A treat for those you want something light, easy, fruity with no overwheming sweetness. I had the idea to mix it with yuzu juice and make ice cubes then pair with Campari and gin…I’ve got to get working on that.

Kiuchi Ume wine
Beautiful nose reminiscent of gewurztraminer. Beautiful on the palate. A real eye opener. Certainly not what I expected and with a dry finish. Empty glass aromas of red apple peel.

Baladin Tasting with Teo Musso 

What a treat to taste with the man who has done so much for craft beer in Italy. Teo singlehandedly put Piozzo on the map by founding Baladin brewery. It was (still is) a small town with 800 people, 11 churches, and not bars. Teo changed that. Even now, when I looked it up on Wikipedia, it doesn’t have a fully realized page—that’s how small the town is.

Baladin Isaac (6% abv)
Named after his son. Subdued yellow color with beautiful clean aromas. Medium to light bodied. Beautiful flavors; a little orange, subtle coriander. Clean finish. Excellent flavors. Unpasteurized and unfiltered. 90% of the raw ingredients he produces. Also responsible for the first hops cultivation in Italy.

Baladin Wayan (5.8% abv)
Beautiful malty aromas. Medium bodied with a dry finish. Very tasty and almost full bodied beer but not so much that it’s filling. Named after his daughter. He suggested it goes with fish, oysters, clams, seafood.

Baladin Nora (6.8% abv)
Nora is mother to Isaac and Wayan. It is a golden color with warm fruit aromas. Rich but not heavy with great freshness. Well balanced beer that has a lot going for it.

Baladin Nazionale (6.5% abv)
The nose blows you away! It has a grassy spicy nose but not in a crazy way. Deliciously nutty on the palate. Seriously good beer. It is a 100% Italian beer made with solely Italian raw materials. It even includes one of my favorite things—bergamot.

Baladin Super Baladin “Floreale” (85 abv)
Pretty nose of malt with just a hint of hops. Complex flavors, fruit, round with warm non-spicy spices. 8% alcohol but not alcohol forward.

Baladin Al-Iksir (10% abv)
Honeyed rich aroma, Christmas spices like Three Kings spices. Rich but not overbearing. A little bit like a spirit (no hops).

Xyauyu Barrel Aged (13% abv)
Smells like whiskey! Sweet, holy shit! Rich, honey. Drinks like a bourbon with chocolate coffee ginger hints. Amazing. Also, it ages; serve non-refrigerated. 

Xyauyu Fume (13% abv)
Rich malt. Smoky aromas, flavors are rich. Aromas a little bit like arenca. Aged in whiskey barrels and I would drink after dinner, maybe late at night with a cigar. Also, it ages; serve non-refrigerated.

B. United Tasting with
Matthias Neidhart & George Flickinger

This was a tasting of items distributed by B. United. Matthias is the man who heads up the whole thing at this place.

Schneider Brotzeit Bier (4.5% abv)
One of the oldest wheat beer breweries in the world. Having said that this is not a wheat beer. Clean aromas, very dry on the palate. No wheat malt here. Sourdough yeast culture. This is a clean fresh beer. 50% rye malt, rest is Vienna and Pilsner. This post workout, post mowing the lawn, post anything strenuous beer.

Baby Jasmine Tea Lager (5.4% abv)
Beautiful nose; undertones of delicate flowers. Elegant beer wth more formal jasmine tones on the end and with a dry finish. Master Gao is considered the grandfather of craft brewing in China. He roasts the jasmine six times with each time adding new fresh jasmine and using care not to have to high a temperature which can draw out the tannins. There is just the slightest amount of tannin on the end which contributes to the overall body.

 

Birrificio Almond 22 Awa (5.6% abv)
It’s good if you want a beer that you don’t want to think about. It is brewed in Italy, cold shipped in a tank and canned in Oxford. It is part of what has made B. United a leader in the industry. Fresh clean nose, medium bodied with a dry clean finish. Fresh. It’s what’s called in Abruzzo (home to the brewery)  a “white pale ale”.  A little sundried orange peel. Made with emmer—which I have just found out is wheat, aka farro, and red spelt.

Hitachino Nest Dai Dai (6.2% abv)
Slightly citrus aroma with some sharpness. Medium malt bodied. Beautifully balanced and made with Japanes Fukure Mikan (wild mandarin oranges) and a little bit of bitterness on the finish. Fukure Mikan also means “orange which will bring fortune happiness.”

Wild Creatures Tears of St. Laurent (6.2% abv)
This is a not crazy sour beer from the Czech Republic. No sweetness but with some fruit flavors and a completely dry finish. It would be interesting to have some people try it as I only know St. Laurent as a grape from Austria.

Gurutzeta Sagardoa Basque Cider (6% abv)
Interestingly enough although it is made in Basque Country it does not require that all the apples be from the Basque region or even from Spain. This is a very very dry cider that is definitely to be paired with food. Apparently it’s drunk as shots with food. It is a member (certified?) of/by Gorenak—a group that has certain standards and has come to be known as a quality group.

Ola Dubh Ale 10th Anniversary Edition (9% abv)
A dark ale with a rich aroma. Malty, nutty finish porter with roasted barley. Matured for two years in Highland Park whiskey barrels. Intense but finishes clean and fresh. Smells a little like the Puerto Rican drink known as Malta.

Idromele “Nettare di Bacco” (14% abv)
Holy cow! This mead smells amazing. It has an intense rosewater, orange blossom aroma. I couldn’t stop writing the word amazing. It has very middle eastern flavors and aromas…things like dates, golden raisins. So not like anything else I’ve ever tasted. Amazing.

Viking Blod (19% abv)
Another mead but this time a little less intense. Pretty nose of hibiscus. Beautiful floral and spicy flavors and aromas. Lighter than I thought it would be but elegant. The bottle, which is black and kind of medieval looking, is in complete contrast to the lovely liquid inside.

OEC Tasting with Tony Pellino

The OEC brewery, housed on the same property as B. United, focuses on wild and sour beers. OEC is Latin (kind of) for Ordinem Ecentrici Coctores—Order of Eccentric Boilers. They make many beers and just celebrated their fourth anniversary. The beers we tasted were but a sampling of the portfolio of beers they offer.

Baudelot Blanche (4.5% abv)
No oak. Clean aromas of apples, and malic fruit aromas. It’s sour and clean on the palate. Spices such as coriander, dry thyme. Reminds me of a Berliner.

Exilis Dry Hopped Hallertau Blanc (3.8% abv)
Fresh clean aromas with a little green funkiness. Nice sour and very refreshing. Semi-spontaneous fermentation (yeah he admitted that makes no sense). The hoppiness is not overwhelming. Really a delicious beer if your are fan of fresh clean non-malty beers. Empty glass aroma is clean. Apparently this beer ages well.

Fluorescence (8% abv)
Hoppier and more IPA per Tony. As close as they get to producing an IPA. It is a young Exilis X three? Clean dry pineapple aromas, very much sour citrus on the mid-palate. Can be off-putting but it is so well made that it’s like the “jolie laide” concept. It has a strange likeability. It may be 8% abv but is drinks more like 4% abv. Clean finish.

Foeder Saison (5.2% abv)
Clean nose; citrus-apple nose; medium bodied, citrus on the palate. clean.; lemony, grains of paradise, coriander, black peppercorns used. Clean finish and some of the grain of paradise flavors come thru.

Tempus Blend X (5.9%abv)
Golden color. Complex nose of spice and warm fruit. It is a sour with a sharp piquancey that reminds me of smelling weed—green wild grass. Sour concrete to oak treatment. Sharp and spicy finish with an almost habanero like raspiness. It’s a blend of beer and each blend is different with even numbers being frutier and odd numbers being more savory.

Vindemia Rouge (8% abv)
Base is Flanders red. Warm dried red fruit aromas. Medium bodied sour but not overly so like Tempus. It has a good berry flavor profile. Very good finish; sour.

Tank Container Tasting with Brendan Kingston

One of the things that B. United does is buy beer from producers to can or finish and can at their facility. It is a method that’s about getting the freshest beer to the customer and about solving some of the enviromental costs involved with the transportation of beer. Each tank looks just like the oil or gasoline tanks you see on the road. The tanks we tasted from are divided into four different compartments allowing B. United to pick up different beers from one brewery. We tasted beers that were poured int the glass directly from the tank. We couldn’t get fresher beer if we tried.

Saison d’Erpe Mere
Clean aroma. Medium bodied. Good spice and lots of flavor. Lots of effervescence. Delicious beer.

Aecht Schlenkerla Helles (4.3% abv)
Slightly smoky nose. Outstanding creaminess. Excellent beer with delicate smoked dried arenca aromas. Not directly smoked but done in the same copper kettles and with the same yeast as Aecht Schlenkerla. Slightly smoky but subtle.

1809 Berliner Weisse Style
Clean aroma; clean flavors. A little banana, a little sour. Very tasty and delicious.

Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien 2017
Done in Chateau Latour barrels. Weird kitchen/food aromas. It’s like a sour beer, wine and sherry all rolled into one delicious spirit like concoction.

Tipolis (the only one of these we tasted from can) (5% abv)
Golden color. Clean flavor. It does have some banana aromas but not overwhelmingly so. Good clean flavors. No thinking required yet it has enough complexity.

Old Style Yamahai Sour Genshu (17% abv)
This is a cask strength sake that is only available in kegs. It is a bright clear color. Clean banana aromas. Bright melon flavors, a little sourness and a little bite giving it texture. Light feel for 17%.

Facility Tour with Michael Opalenski

Each component of B. United—whether it’s the tank beer, the exotic imports, or the OEC beer, happen in an environment that is directly related to the vision of Matthias. This vision is one in which the geography of the quiet hills in this western section of Connecticut are being transformed into a climate that is welcoming of all sorts of ethereal visitors. The idea is to create climate that is welcoming of bees, bacteria and blossoms that will enable the entire facility to become a micro/macrocosm that helps all of the components.

While B. United was started in 1995, it moved to its current location in 2009. There is geothermal cooling in the warehouse, they have set up an octagonal columnar building to take care of roasting and baking and they are growing grapes such as traminette and cayuga—not to make wine, but to help in the making of beer.

The section of a building they call the Fermentarium is all about experimentation with vessels—everything from a terracotta amphora that contains a Barleywine Hydromelita Blend to a blue granite take that contains a Gewuerzgose with a “flor” to a large Sangiovese cask that contains a Flemish Red to a shelving unit that contains beautiful vessels from Kenya. Hanging in the middle of all of this looks likea pork shoulder air drying for what I’m sure will be a tasty treat for a future lunch.

 

 

 

There is much going on outside as there is inside. There is an icehouse that has barrels in it so experimentation withtemperature and liquid can happen, there is a shed in which balsamic vinegar is being made with Aventinus. There are two greenhouses—one devoted to herbs and another to citrus such as Yuzu and keffir limes. There is a strawberry patch outside the latter greenhouse, berries that were part of our salad at lunch.

B. United’s vision for what they want to do is clearly focused on fermentation and they look everywhere for inspiration. Perhaps the most surprising thing was the something called the Urwagan (at least that is how I heard it) pit that comes from Uganda. It is pit in which contains two barrels that have been buried—one of the barrel contains 2017 Berliner Weisse; we couldn’t read the label on the other one. The technique of the buried pit helps to control fermentation, especially in an environment that gets really hot and would make it diffiicult to control fermentation.

 

I left B. United with a great amount of knowledge and the desire to know more. The whole day was but a slice of what they do, know and show. No one who creates something like B. United does so without having the vision that the whole world is your inspiration and that your laboratory can be in a warehouse setting which has been transformed into a bucolic scene worthy of the Latin tradition.

Note: B. United’s Brewery OEC is open to the public. The rest of the facility is not open to the public but the B. United products are available thru various retailers and restaurants.