Stone Brewing releases beer made with new ingredient ‘Phantasm’

Stone Brewing has started brewing using  the newest beer ingredient – the grape skin powder named ‘Phantasm’.

The California-based brewery, which has used the extract Phantasm – made from Sauvignon Blanc grapes and rumoured to contribute a juicy flavour and accentuate beer with aromas of passion fruit and guava – is about to release a beer showcasing the new adjunct.

Explaining about the venture, Stone Brewing senior manager of innovation and supply chain, Jeremy Moynier, revealed to San Diego sources that “this is our first commercial release with Phantasm, a grape skin extract from New Zealand”.

The new beer, named Patio Magic, is an 8.8% ABV double IPA which also uses the experimental hop named 843 and is anticipated to be a beer that has amplified fruit flavours that offer up extra juice and zestiness.

Moynier has said that 843’s attributes are orange, berry (especially strawberry and raspberry), floral, and wood notes and stated that he thinks that 843 could also possibly work well in a lager or stout giving many different beer styles some added complexity. In Patio Magic, the 843 hop is used alongside Mosaic as well as Southern Aroma hops from South Africa as well as the added Phantasm.

Moynier explained: “Phantasm is fairly new and we started trialing it over the summer last year. This is our first commercial release with Phantasm, a grape skin extract from New Zealand. White wine grapes are pressed off of the skins, and those can be thrown away or worked back into the soil, but here they are used to develop this innovative addition to beer. Phantasm contains thiol precursors and, when used with certain yeasts and hops, can really intensify the flavour and aroma experience.”

For Stone Brewing, experimenting with Phantasm in a beer recipe is simply another stage of learning more about how beer flavour and style can be complemented and nuanced by well-cultivated natural resources.

The resulting limited release beer, Patio Magic, will be available to buy in cans or on keg in good beer bars from 27 February.