The Wee on the Lam Sour Brown has an interesting tale. It was a bad batch of wee heavy that was redeemed with some brett. It'll be interesting to taste how this came out.
And from a bit further afield:
While Sam Adams is not a Wisconsin brewer, this beer just sounds blatantly interesting. I bet it would go well with a movie. I shall have to bust out my Rashomon DVD with a bottle in hand.
This curious and cunning brew, named for the eight-headed dragon of Japanese lore, use two unusual ingredients from the same origin for its distinctive and bold flavor. Yuzu juice creates a bright citrusy character with notes of grapefruit & mandarin orange while Japanese Sugi wood balances the sweetness with a fresh earthiness. The result is a bright & ethereal yet with lots of earthy power.
In Business Madison has a new beer blog.
Barry Adams of the Wisconsin State Journal recently interviewed Brian Destree from Capital.
In March, an imperial IPA will be released in 22-ounce bomber bottles and on draft, followed by a toned-down IPA in April available in bottles, cans and on tap.
"...we're trying to get back to the younger demographic and give them something that's hot right now. IPAs are just flying off the shelf right now."
Yay. Bandwagon jumping. This is disappointing although understandable from a business point of view - Capital wants to catch the IPA wave. But I have to wonder if jumping on the bandwagon is going to pay off. Why not differentiate yourself instead of following the pack? Hopheads have Moon Man, Ale Asylum, Two Hearted, Sierra Nevada, and, well, pretty much every craft brewery out there. Even Michelob brewed an IPA.
I don't doubt that Destree will brew a tasty IPA and IIPA; instead I simply have a natural knee-jerk aversion to following the pack. I'd much rather Capital did something different than try to play catch up. At the very least, brew an IPL. Coney Island does some interesting lagers. How about a Kölsch? A good Kölsch is hard to beat and it needn't be dull. Capital could differentiate theirs from most American Kölsch-style ales out there by simply lagering it as is proper. Or they could go further. Finch's brewed one with toasted hops and applewood while Flat 12 brewed a version with cucumber which I had at The Great Taste and enjoyed. A normal Kölsch as an annual and then a funky one for the Capital Square series.
Alternatively, why not play around with a weizen? Try adding fruit to one or get hopheads jizzing in their pants by using some kind of C-hop.
We'll just have to wait and see but I worry that all of this talk of IPAs, catering to young people, and bandwagon jumping means that the brewery will forget to dance with the one that brung ya.
MadTable has an article about Capital's bomber series which reveals more bandwagon jumper oning:
“We wanted to take advantage of a trend,” says Capital’s vice president of sales, Corey Wheling. “22-ounce bottles are the number one package for consumer beer trials for beers people have never had before.”
This makes a nice segue to a bit of confirmation bias. This is an episode of the Seacoast Beverage Lab Podcast featuring Chris Lohring of Notch Brewing, a brewery that brews only session beers, i.e. - brew of 4.5% ABV or less. He covers his love of sessions beers, his dislike of seasonal beers being released a full season before the one they're brewed for, he questions the need for another IPA, and notes how bombers are a rip-off for consumers. Good stuff.
No comments:
Post a Comment