Provided by George Wright IV
Audio By Carbonatix
Since it opened on East Colfax Avenue three years ago, Sap Sua has consistently surprised and delighted Denver diners with its unique and creative take on Vietnamese cuisine, one of many reasons it’s remained on our list of Best Restaurants in Denver Right Now.
As it celebrates its third anniversary today, June 29, at 3 p.m., fans will have two ways to join the festivities. There’s the walk-in only crawfish boil dumping out two-pound servings to those lucky enough to get there before they sell out. Lasting a bit longer, however, is a commemorative rice lager brewed in collaboration with Bierstadt Lagerhaus and Amalgam Brewing and offered in 16-ounce cans.
The limited-time beer — Three Ladies Rice Lager — is named after the Three Ladies Extra Super Quality brand of jasmine rice used by Sap Sua, but using it to make beer is no gimmick or mere matter of convenience. The floral character of the rice carries right through in the beer.
What does rice lager taste like?
“There’s definitely a white flour, almost honeysuckle (note) in the same way like you might perceive in some white wine,” says Amalgam owner and full-time Bierstadt brewer Phil Joyce. “Our goal with this beer was specifically to highlight that ingredient and make the rice be the showcase. I think it very much comes through. Compared to other lager beers that we make, it is distinct in its sensory impact for sure.”
The restaurant’s beverage director, George Wright IV, says that Sap Sua chef/owners Anna and Ni Nguyen are very particular about the restaurant’s rice. The couple spent a good deal of time researching different brands before deciding which to bring into the kitchen. So using the same rice in the beer to go along with it just made sense.
“Since we’ve been tasting the beer through its stages as it’s been coming to completion, you definitely get some of those floral notes,” Wright says. “You could definitely notice that the rice had the impact on the beer itself. I feel like they did a really good job of balancing the beer.”
How is rice lager made?
About 12% of the grain bill for the beer comes from the jasmine rice, with the rest contributed by Bierstadt’s standard German malt. From there, Joyce adds Motueka hops from New Zealand to introduce notes of lime and lemongrass as a natural complement Sap Sua’s cuisine.
While rice is a common addition at large, commercial lager breweries, the focus is rarely on flavor. A brand like Budweiser uses rice as a neutral source of fermentable sugars that won’t add body to the beer, and doesn’t market its beer as a rice lager. However, the style has seen an uptick among small brewers who want to lean into the flavor aspect, and Joyce — a Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup judge — expects some impact when a brewery uses the label “rice lager.”
“If you read a lot of the Brewers Association guidelines for certain styles of beer, whether or not that’s a corn lager or a rice lager or whatever, there needs to be a unique sensory impact from that ingredient that makes the beer different from other things, other similar beers in a similar category,” he says. “So we’re calling this beer a rice lager because there’s a distinct sensory impact from the rice in the finished beer.”
On the macro beer side, Wright is a fan of Sapporo, which he feels goes well with a lot of the flavor profiles in Asian cuisine, including Vietnamese. He’s also had an excellent version at Comrade Brewing in southeast Denver. Joyce notes that Westbound & Down, with locations in Denver, Lafayette, Idaho Springs and further into the mountains, recently released a beer made with rice called The San Francisco Treat.
Other local rice lagers include Great Divide’s Samurai, Paper Lantern by Cerebral Brewing, Japanese Style Rice Lager from Upslope Brewing, Oishii from Wibby Brewing in Longmont, Rice Against the Machine by Green Mountain Beer in Lakewood, and Maneki-Neko from Diebolt Brewing. New Belgium Brewing is a part of the multinational Kirin Holdings, so the Kirin Ichiban found on Denver-area shelves is freshly made in Fort Collins.
How do you pair rice lager with food?
Wright says he’s looking forward to enjoying the beer on its own, but notes that it would also be great as a part of Sap Sua’s happy meal, served with a chicken sandwich and fries. It would also pair well with a new dish on the menu, grilled pork jowl (cheek) served on a fermented tofu chile sauce, he adds; Three Ladies would serve as a good palate cleanser after the umami, spice and other flavors. Another dish he would pair it with is the fried pig ears, served with a soft egg and serrano peppers — a lot of rich flavors and texture that would benefit from a sip of bright, crisp rice lager.
Wright initially approached Joyce and Bierstadt co-owner/head brewer Ashleigh Carter about working together without intending for it to be an anniversary release; the beer just happened to be ready in time for the party. It was a partnership among friends — according to Joyce, a visit to Sap Sua is standard practice for his family on Saturdays when they go to the nearby farmers’ market, and the restaurant hosted the Bierstadt and Amalgam teams for the breweries’ annual holiday dinner in the restaurant’s first year.
“There’s so many options out there for products that you can buy, but at some point it really just matters who you’re working with and what they believe in, and making sure it aligns with what you do, too,” Wright says.
The beer will be available in cans until it runs out, and Wright says he intends to reach out to industry friends who may want to offer the beer as well.
