In the spirit of Christmas (or actually Halloween -when it was settled) the “elf fight” was settled. Troeg’s Brewing (Hershey, PA) and Fegley’s Brewworks (Allentown, PA) have been at odds over elf beer names. Troeg’s makes Mad Continue Reading →
The rundown: Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey recently said “no” to shipping their used barrels to brewers outside of Colorado. Now they have paired up with Breckenridge Brewing as they only brewery able to use Stranahan’s. The news has been Continue Reading →
Nebraska Brewing only brews their Barrel Aged Apricot au Poivre Saison from their Reserve Series one small batch at a time and have less of it to release than the rest of the series. This rare brew will be released to the Continue Reading →
Narragansett’s Cream Ale will not be the brewery’s newest year round offering. The decision comes after Narragansett asked the public to decide whether Rye Ale or Cream Ale would get promoted.
Related to a pale lager, cream ale is generally brewed Continue Reading →
Took a spin over to New Belgium Brewing during GABF this year. Le Terroir won gold while I was there, and I was lucky enough to get to break the news to the peeps there. Michael Bussman, their “social networking Continue Reading →
In the spirit of Christmas (or actually Halloween -when it was settled) the “elf fight” was settled. Troeg’s Brewing (Hershey, PA) and Fegley’s Brewworks (Allentown, PA) have been at odds over elf beer names. Troeg’s makes Mad Elf. Fegley’s makes Rude Elf Reserve. Troeg’s contended it had the sole right to use “elf” in it’s name Fegley’s (who has changed the name of the beer once already due to lawsuit) refused to change it again.
On October 31st, the breweries settled the dispute – although the details have not been disclosed. Fegley’s WILL be using the Rude Elf name on it’s 2011 release. Who won? Both breweries will use the elf image on their beers. Neither brewery has commented on the terms of the settlement. [MorningCall]
The rundown: Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey recently said “no” to shipping their used barrels to brewers outside of Colorado. Now they have paired up with Breckenridge Brewing as they only brewery able to use Stranahan’s. The news has been received with mixed feelings. Jeff, the man responsible for the barrel aging program at Breckenridge elaborated on BeerAdvocate recently:
My name is Jeff and I have recently assumed responsibilities regarding the barrel-aging (BA) program at Breck.
Let me start by saying thanks to Domingo for the support.
Let’s look at this from another perspective and address a few facts. Colorado has a rich, supportive and extensive culture in the craft brewing industry. Breck was one of the first craft breweries in the state of Colorado and while others have come and gone; we are still here. We are on track to grow to 55k barrels by the end of the year and we are projecting continuing growth into 2012.
Yes, there is a very specific and identifiable demographic of beer enthusiasts that prefer “big” beers that have more aggressive or complex profiles. Personally, I prefer a “chewy” beer! However, remember that roughly 90% of the market is STILL owned by the BIG 3 that produce what “Joe Consumer” is used to buying. Make no mistake, year after year we as craft breweries are converting more and more people to the “dark side” thus taking more of that percentage of the proverbial pie. There are those that will effectively pursue the more risky and bigger beer demographic (Avery) and those that will pursue the “gateway” markets; and there are those that will (and have) enter into this arena and not quite ever get a solid footing or identity and fall by the way side.
My point is, Breck has a pretty good bead on it’s place in the market and while some people may desire “bigger” in specific markets, on the national barometer, we have a large fan base that is, as of late, experiencing rapid growth.
Finally, let’s scale things back to the barrel operation at Breck and the involvement with Stranahan’s….
First, the BA project at Breck has received a lot more attention and support over the last year. By the spring of 2010, the few barrels that had made up the “inventory” had grown to 30 barrels. Just this month we released a BA Vanilla Porter, a BA Oatmeal Stout and a Cabernet cask conditioned Golden Ale (Summerbright). I am currently scheduling upcoming seasonals to be put in barrels over the next few months. By this time next year I am planning on doubling that. The question was brought up earlier about warehousing space; Trust me — there is already a plan under way to facilitate the expansion.
I want to say this regarding our neighbors and good friends at Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey: Pete, Jake, Caley, Kurt and the rest of the staff have always supported the community and have been very generous with the allocation and distribution of their “first generation” barrels. However, one of the changes I have witnessed since the Proximo/Stranahan’s union is that they are no longer supplying barrels to the community directly. I have been told, the barrels are being saved for “special projects”….
I am at liberty to say only this: our BA program is growing and we are excited to continue to introduce new BA beers to our fans and i look forward to experimenting with not only whiskey barrels, but other barrels as well.
Nebraska: Black Betty & Apricot Au Poivre Saison Releases
Nebraska Brewingonly brews their Barrel Aged Apricot au Poivre Saison from their Reserve Series one small batch at a time and have less of it to release than the rest of the series. This rare brew will be released to the public next week on 12/8 and will be shipped to distributors at the same time. If you’re in the area, Nebraska Brewing will also have samples of Apricot au Poivre Saison available at the release party in the brewpub at 6pm.
Also, just to put the icing on the cake, Nebraska will also be releasing their Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Stout, Black Betty on the very same night.
Four of the five Reserve Series beers will be available for purchase before Christmas: Fathead Barleywine, Barrel Aged Hop God, Barrel Aged Apricot au Poivre Saison, and Black Betty. Melange a Trois will not be available for stocking stuffers this year.
Narragansett’s Cream Ale will not be the brewery’s newest year round offering. The decision comes after Narragansett asked the public to decide whether Rye Ale or Cream Ale would get promoted.
Related to a pale lager, cream ale is generally brewed to be light and refreshing with a straw to pale golden color and fairly subdued hop and malt flavor. While a top-fermented ale, Cream ales typically undergo an extended period of cold-conditioning or lagering after the primary fermentation is complete, reducing fruity esters and giving the beer a clean, smooth flavor.
This isn’t Narragansett’s first cream ale. The brewery had one in the 60’s & 70’s.
Troeg’s: 1000 Barrels Of Mad Elf, New Cocoa Porter
What up in with Troeg’s in their new home in Hershey, PA? Here’s a rundown. Lots of Mad Elf, breaking down the old brewhouse, building up the new one…
On Brewhouse fabrication:
T1 (aka the Harrisburg brewhouse is no more and T2 (new brewhouse in Harrisburg) is coming together nicely. Amongst all of the engineers, welders, fabricators, electricians, riggers, etc the Trogner brothers are still finding time to brew at their new Hershey, PA facility. So far they have brewed 500 bbls of Hopback, 600 bbls of Troegenator, 300 bbls of Pale Ale, and nearly 1000 bbls of Mad Elf. They have also been able to brew three new small batches to join their Scratch Series on the new 15 bbl brewhouse they put in specifically for this series.
Brewing:
The first of these three was to be a Munich Helles honoring German friends From BrauKon. With the new brew system and increased mash efficiency and and a higher boil off than expected the starting gravity was much higher than anticipated. Add 3 additions of Hersbrucker hops and house lager yeast and you have Helles Bock due out in a couple of weeks.
Next up was a batch of Hopback used for yeast propagation.
About new Cocoa Porter:
The most recent batch was a cocoa porter. They lowered the starting gravity from previous choolate brews and toned down the burnt character by reducing the amount of black malt and roasted barley. A bit of lactose was added for sweetness and a mix of black and red cocoa powders were used. A reduced amount of Warrior and Cluster hops were added to keep bitterness down. It has since been moved to a conditioning tank where it is sitting on cocoa nibs and vanilla beans until Troegs brewers are pleased w the flavor and that is when it will be bottled.
2012 will make the first year in 58 years that the infamous (and beautiful) Budweiser Clydesdales will not appear in the Parade Of Roses.
“We’ve truly enjoyed being a part of the Rose Parade and appreciate the great work on our floats over the years,” Rob McCarthy, an Anheuser-Busch vice president, told the Pasadena Star-News in a statement.
Why? Apparently the company is pulling out of events like this to be apart of new events to better target beer drinkers. [KTLA]
Took a spin over to New Belgium Brewing during GABF this year. Le Terroir won gold while I was there, and I was lucky enough to get to break the news to the peeps there. Michael Bussman, their “social networking nerd” announces it to fans in the tap room.
In the spirit of Christmas (or actually Halloween -when it was settled) the “elf fight” was settled. Troeg’s Brewing (Hershey, PA) and Fegley’s Brewworks (Allentown, PA) have been at odds over elf beer names. Troeg’s makes Mad Elf. Fegley’s makes Rude Elf Reserve. Troeg’s contended it had the sole right to use “elf” in it’s name Fegley’s (who has changed the name of the beer once already due to lawsuit) refused to change it again.
