From our start in 1995, B. United International Inc. has been all about the intriguing world of complex flavors and aromas, a fundamental idea so important to the late Michael Jackson. It led to the concept of “world-classics”. It is the driving force behind our Zymatore project and the OEC brewery. The same idea inspired us to implement completely new processes such as our fleet of temperature controlled tank containers and kegging/casking & refermenting many of our imported liquids at our place in Oxford CT.
Driven by the idea of achieving highest level of flavor and aroma complexity and thus doubting the conventional way of doing things we of course looked at the various fruits, berries, spices and herbs used in many of the brews we represent.
It became quite clear very quickly that the conventional way of buying them in fresh, dried or frozen form through third parties, immediately offered a dramatic possibility for us… Wouldn’t fruits, berries, spices, & herbs (“FBSH”) planted & grown by ourselves and harvested just minutes before being used in our Zymatore project or OEC brewery elevate the flavors & aromas to their highest level, a level that couldn’t ever be achieved in any other way?
There is only one way to find out, starting our own horticultural area around our facility in Oxford CT, by converting each spare foot of space to farm ground wherever possible. A small vineyard with French-American hybrids that can survive our harsh climate, Chambourcin, Marechal Foch – represent red grapes and Vidal Blanc & Traminette represent white grapes. Sour cherry trees, red, black and yellow raspberries, red gooseberries, red and black currants, rhubarb, peach trees, Chinese apricot trees, French Plum tree, lime trees, lemon trees, Bouquet de Fleurs sour orange trees, Chinotto Sour oranges, Sanguinelli blood oranges, Indio Mandarinquat Kumquats, Ethrog Citrons, Santa Teresa Feminello Lemons, Calamdonins, Poncirus, Australian Finger Limes, and Yuzu trees. All of our citrus trees are kept in our greenhouses operated by solar energy. Our spices and herbs consist of sage, rosemary, sweet-spicy oregano, chamomile, coriander, cilantro and hyssop.
We will add our own organic compost made up of spent hops, grains, yeast, and water from OEC to use as fertilizer and soil amendment for our horticultural plants. In addition, we have a beautiful vernal pool in the rear of our building live with toads, frogs, beavers and birds.
The purpose of our horticultural area is twofold: 1) To harness the flavors & aromas of our FBSH at their peak, and 2) To isolate and cultivate the various complex wild yeast strains indigenous to our horticultural plants. These yeast cultures are being used for fermentation and refermentation in our various Zymatore & OEC projects.
Over the coming spring and summer months I will report on some of the unique features of our plants & indigenous wild yeast strains. But much more importantly about the various OEC and Zymatore projects they are being used for… and their impact on the unique flavor and aroma complexity of each such brews.