(Not) Beer of the Week: La Ola Dragon Fruit

From the Beer Writer: In the nearly three years San Dego Beer News has existed, our Beer of the Week feature has exclusively spotlighted ales and lagers. And in the 11 total years I’ve put this weekly feature together for various publications and news outlets (San Diego Magazine, The San Diego Reader, West Coaster), only once have I deviated from that formula to highlight an award-winning local mead. It leads one to wonder why I’m featuring a beverage other than beer this week–hard kombucha, to be exact. The answer: pride. Pride for my hometown of over four decades and a local sports team that, despite not being a futbol fanatic, I am immensely proud to have in America’s Finest City. I’m talking about our women’s soccer club, San Diego Wave FC, a team that’s exciting, easy to root for and making great things happen on the pitch and in our community while blazing a path for female athletes of tomorrow to follow. Many are excited about our city possibly joining the MLS ranks, but for me, this is the team. They play hard to earn respect and fan patronage, and I’m glad to see they’re getting both in droves. And it’s good to see a local brewery, Novo Brazil Brewing, collaborating with the Wave by developing this week’s featured kombucha: La Ola Dragon Fruit. Part of the company’s line of Nova Easy Kombucha, La Ola (translation: wave) is infused with dragon fruit, which adds a touch of tropical sweetness and a pink hue matching the club’s color scheme. It’s light in body and completely undetectable as an alcoholic beverage (translation: be careful). Locally and thoughtfully produced, this is a fitting and tasty liquid mascot for the most inspiring sports franchise to hit San Diego’s shores in some time.

From the Brewery: “La Ola Dragon Fruit hard kombucha was inspired by the bright pinks of the San Diego sunset, which are illustrated on the Wave FC logo and by the new Snapdragon Stadium. With the help of the Nova and Wave FC families, we chose this product to represent our exciting partnership. This 6% ABV (alcohol-by-volume) beverage brings together the tartness of our kombucha and sweetness of the dragon fruit with a hint of lime to formulate a delightful balance of flavors. We are thrilled to finally be sharing this entirely natural product with our fellow San Diegans. Cheers! “—Vanessa Orozco, Quality Assurance Supervisor, Novo Brazil Brewing