I always look forward to the Craft Brewer Conference every year. I’m looking forward to it even more this year as it’s in Philadelphia. Philadelphia is such a great beer city and, more importantly, it’s on the East Coast, which is in my territory! With that, I get to brew some collaboration beers to serve at the Briess Taproom in Booth #2414 on the Expo floor. What have I brewed up for the Briess booth this year?
The first is a Baltic Porter made by my friends at Maine Beer Company called “Don’t Get the Pasta.” You’ll have to stop by the booth and ask me the story behind the name. But the beer itself features some of our roasted malts as well as our Heritage Gold™ as the base malt. We brewed a trial batch of this a few months ago, and it came out smooth and full-bodied, with notes of dark chocolate, toffee, and molasses. Personally, I think they need to bump this up to a small production run as part of their Black Barn series, but that’s my opinion.
I also had a chance to head up to Frederick, MD, and brew a small batch of Bock with the team at Brewer’s Alley. And when I say “team, it was really all the work of the brewer, Michael. I just supervised and made bad jokes all day. I’m glad that he tolerated me. Alleybock features our Brewers Malt and some of our Munich Malts, as well as a little bit of Midnight Wheat Malt for color. Frederick is a small city that has a lot to offer – history, dining, antiques, parks – it really punches above its weight class. Sites like Harpers Ferry, Gettysburg, Antietam, and the Appalachian Trail are all within a short drive. If you are in the area, definitely stop in and check out the city, and make sure to visit Brewers Alley for some delicious food and beer. And stop by its sister brewery, Monocacy Brewing, for some more great beer.
Levante Brewing and 2SP Brewing also collaborated with Briess on a Bière de Mars with the name of “Two Moons”. If you are in the Philly area, this will also be released to the public through their normal distribution channels. Two Moons features a base of our Synergy Select Pilsen Malt, as well as some Munich, Vienna, and Wheat Malts. Make sure to come by the Briess booth and taste a Belgian-style beer made with Briess malts. I can’t thank Jason at 2SP and Moriah at Levante enough. They did all the work – I just provided the team with malted milk balls and some very good donuts. I highly recommend Donut House in Berwyn, PA. They were incredibly nice, and the donuts were delicious. They truly looked like pieces of art too.
My fourth collaboration was with Chilly Hollow Brewing Company in Berryville, VA. Chilly Hollow is a beautiful spot nestled in between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah River. It’s both a brewery and a working cattle farm, and general, just a wonderful place to sit and have a beer and enjoy the view. It’s hard not to relax there. The Head Brewer, Chris Jacques, has been a long-time friend, and this was my first chance to finally brew with him. We brewed a Scottish Export using Heritage Gold™ Malt, Caramel 120, Caramel Vienne, and Blackprinz® on the Chilly Hollow 20-barrel brewhouse. The brewhouse came from a defunct Virginia brewery, and Chris was able to resurrect it after a longer-than-anticipated period of storage in a barn. The amount of work put into firing this brewhouse back up – let’s just say I greatly admire his efforts. He’s making some delicious beers in a beautiful setting. This beer is rich and malty, with notes of caramel and toffee. My mouth is watering just thinking of it.
I’m looking forward to sharing all of these beers with you at the Briess Taproom in Booth #2414. Stop by and say hello!