Breweries

San Juan Brewing Co./Front Street Ale House in Washington has laid claiming to creating a new beer style: Ipa-weizen (prounced Ippa-weizen).

From the press release:

Remember back in the day, when Hefe-weizen was the beer to be quaffing? People’s tastes have changed over the years, now the brew to drink is I.P.A., even extra strength or double hopped IPAs. Not that we dwell on such things, but in a recent conversation about beer and such, an idea floated by, slowed down for a second, and a bit of it stuck. Why not combine the best of a crisp, fully hopped IPA, and the refreshing flavors of the summer’s first hefe-weizen, all in the same glass?

The resulting beer is fermented with Bavarian weizen yeast and hopped generously with both German and English varieties.

They named it

Schell Dark is udergoing a bit of a revival in Minnesota’s Twin Cities. Call it a retro Pabst-related dark beer thing.

Launched in the 1970s, Schell’s Dark is what co-owner Marti describes as a drinkable dark beer. It’s sweet, smooth and creamy and lacks the bitterness that some dark beers have.

It’s done well with what advertising types call “independent influentials,” those who shun mainstream brands and embrace classics or originals. “There’s a group of people who like to discover old brands or unique brands that have a quirkiness to them,” said an agency account supervisor.

Schell certainly qualifies as an old brand. The New Ulm brewery is the second oldest still operating in the U.S.

[Via Minneapolis-St Paul Business Journal – free registration]

The headline on the front page of the Wall Street Journal – “After Making Beer Ever Lighter, Anheuser Faces a New Palate” – nicely summarizes the story.

Alas, the link will work only if you are a subscriber, so you might want to look for today’s WSJ on the news stand.

Briefly, some of the revelations:

– From 1950 to 2004, the amount of malt used to brew a barrel of beer in the U.S. declined by nearly 27%, and the amount of hops in a barrel of beer declined by more than half. Part of that decrease is due to improvements in how brewers extract flavor from hops. Nonetheless, beer’s taste became steadily lighter.

– Over the past 20 years the IBU’s of most American-style lagers has declined from roughly 15-20 IBU’s to fewer than 10 today.

– Doug. Muhleman, A-B’s group vice president for brewing and technology, says the company didn’t set out to make the beers less bitter. He calls the change “creep,” the result of endlessly modifying the beer to allow for changes in ingredients, weather and consumer taste.

– In the early 1980s, August Busch III ordered that freshly brewed cans of Budweiser and Bud Light be cryogenically frozen, using technology typically employed in preserving human tissue. That means A-B employees can sit down and taste how Budweiser might have changed. For the story, Busch was able to taste cans from 1982, 1988, 1993, 1998 and 2003.

The sample cans demonstrate how “creep” works, the story explains. The difference in taste between two beers brewed five years apart is indistinguishable. Yet, the difference between the 1982 beer and the 2003 beer is distinct. “The bones are the same. It is the same structure,” Muhleman said. Overall, however, “the beers have gotten a little less bitter.”

Now, here’s the news:

“In a little-noticed move Anheuser is loath to discuss, the brewer recently added more hops to its beer.”

From the Journal:

Anheuser didn’t talk publicly about it, but the brewer also recently made changes in its brewing process to correct for over-lightening. In August 2003, Mr. Busch met with hops growers in Oregon and Washington and told them that Anheuser was planning to increase the proportion of hops used in its beers, according to several people who were there.

Mr. Busch confirms the account, saying in a written statement: “I told the growers of our desire to use more hops in our brewing for the purpose of delivering more amplitude and hop flavor in Budweiser.”

How abut that?

The World Beer Cup results have sparked plenty of conversation on the Internet. If your favorite breweries didn’t win anything it might be because they didn’t enter. You can’t be sure.

For instance, you might wonder, did SandLot Brewery at Coors Field, which won seven medals at the 2005 Great American Beer Festival, enter the World Beer Cup? (In this case we know the answer is yes.)

Or why in the world didn’t New Glarus Brewing in Wisconsin, a perennial winner at such competitions, win anything? We didn’t know the answer to that one until we saw this in The Capital Times:

Missing from this list of Wisconsin winners was the New Glarus Brewery, which chose not to enter this year.

“We have been so busy with our construction, which is kicking our butts, we just didn’t have time to get it together,” said brewery co-owner Deb Carey, whose husband, Dan, was honored this year by the Brewers Association for innovation in brewing and his commitment to the craft brewing industry.

Speaking of Wisconsin beers, the Beer Man in Appleton doesn’t pull any punches in reviewing a couple of new beers: Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat and Capital Island Wheat.

On Sunset Wheat:

I find it incomprehensible that professional brewers could make a beer that is so off, and it’s even more troubling that someone tasted this after it was finished and decided it could be sold. Something is not right with this scenario.

For the Capital beer it was more a matter of not living up to the brewery’s normally high standards:

The beer is just bland – there is nothing to pick out. It’s not malty and there is no hop flavor to speak of. The wheat component is negligible. This is a beer that will no doubt sell like hotcakes in Door County to tourists who want souvenirs, but that’s about it.

Credit to the Beer Man for being upfront about what he thinks about beers from his home state.

Dad’s Little Helper Malt Liquor. The Rogue press release points out “this ain’t your Dad’s malt liquor. Brewmaster John Maier has Roguerized the recipe by adding 40% Midwest corn, lightly hopping it with Oregon Crystal Hops, and then lagering it at a warmer temperature to help bring out the sweet, crisp flavors of the corn.” Sold in 22-ounce seriographed bottles with a label honoring Sonora Smart Dodd, who organized the first Father’s Day Celebration in 1910. 7% abv, 25 IBU.

Abita Strawberry Harvest Lager. The brewery on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain used Louisiana strawberries to brew this seasonal. From the press release: “Ripe, red Louisiana strawberries are harvested at the peak of the season for Abita Strawberry Harvest Lager. Creating Abita Strawberry Harvest is a balancing act. We craft it carefully so that the fruit and beer flavors work together. You get the aroma and taste of the strawberry, while at the same time allowing the underlying beer to refresh and satisfy the palate the way it should. The sweetness and acidity of the berries adds to the crispness of the lager.”

BuzzSaw Brown. Deschutes Brewery calls its newest seasonal “an easy-drinking beer that is refreshing after a hard day’s work.” A modest 4.8%, it qualifies as something of a session beer but has a soothing restorative quality. Packed with a full range of deep rich flavors and brimming with nutty roastiness. Gentle bitterness nicely balances the caramel sweetness. 4.8%, 30 IBU.

Inversion IPA. Deschutes Brewery in Oregon has replaced Quail Springs IPA with this unapologetically Northwest-style IPA. Starting with plenty of floral/citrus character – dry hopped for seven days – it’s weighted toward hops end of the spectrum. Crystal and carastan malts keep it in balance, offering plenty of caramel character before a drying hop bitterness returns at the finish. 6.8% abv, 75 IBU.

Skinny Dip. New Belgium Brewing’s latest qualifies as a low calorie beer with 110 calories (7 grams of carbs) and recently won a taste test of similar beers in Men’s Health magazine. Spiced with Cascade hops and a touch of kaffir lime leaf. NBB calls it “a most revealing beverage.” Much like the previously released seasonal, Loft, including the kaffir lime.

Sea Dog Apricot Wheat Beer. Due from Sea Dog Brewing (a subsidiary of Shipyard Brewing) in May. “Fruit flavored beer and spirits are popular nationally and consumers are looking for innovative, refreshing flavors,” said Bruce Forsley, director of sales and marketing. 4.6% abv.

Broken Halo IPA. Widmer Brothers in Oregon launched its India Pale Ale the same week in history when Prohibition was repealed for beer on April 7, 1933. “I can’t think of a better way to celebrate 73 years of the freedom to enjoy beer than with our new Broken Halo IPA,” said Kurt Widmer. Hopped with Cascade and Columbus hops, the IPA was first offered as a seasonal, then a Brewmaster’s Release and now become a year-round beer. 6% abv, 45 IBU.