Cuvée La Boîte From Brooklyn Brewery

A dinner party brought The Brooklyn Brewery's brewmaster Garrett Oliver and Lior Lev Sercarz, the spice blender behind La Boîte á Epice, together.

The two got to talking, which led to the creation of Brooklyn Brewery's Brewmaster Reserve Cuvée La Boîte.

The beer, which releases at the brewery today and is being shipped to Gramercy Tavern, Blind Tiger, The Pony Bar, The Ginger Man and Barcade, is a pale wheat beer thumped with Sercarz's unique MishMish #33 blend (lemon, Spanish saffron, crystallized honey), fresh kaffir lime leaves and rare Espelette peppers from the French Pyrenees.

Sercarz, who says he is "the proud carrier of a Belgian passport," explains that the beer is a Belgian-inspired Grand Cru (read: high-end), but that it replaces the commonplace coriander, orange and lemon-peel accents with his fanciful spice mix.
The spice blend that makes this beer special: MishMish #33
The brew is luxurious with warmth and a subtle kick, apt for a spice blender who is the go-to source for chefs from Eric Ripert to Daniel Boulud.

Bonus round: For a fuller understanding of the beer, both part and parcel, we recommend picking up a jar of the MishMish #33 ($21). Sercarz recommends it on anything from "yogurt with fruits and berries to roast pork with nectarine salad."