Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Bud Goes for Silver

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Currently being test-marketed in Scotland, Anheuser-Busch, will be rolling out Bud Silver throughout the United Kingdon beginning next month. Bud Silver is a “European-style beer with a fuller premium flavor,” according to the UK trade magazine “Checkout.”

It comes in a blue and silver can and is 4.1% abv. According to A-B’s UK managing director, David Dryden, “Bud Silver represents an exciting opportunity for us to compete in a growing category.” Since the UK is Bud’s third-largest market outside the U.S. and Budweiser is the number one premium packaged lager in bars, pubs, clubs and restaurants, I’m not sure what “growing market” he’s talking about. I presume he means beer with flavor — or “fuller premium flavor,” as he put it — is the category that’s growing. But back up a second, how sad is it that marketing is so effective that Britain’s youth has abandoned the country’s rich heritage of ales and made Budweiser their number one drink? But I digress.

Miller Test Markets Caffeinated Malt Liquor

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Beginning today, Miller Brewing will be test marketing Mickey’s Stinger, a beer containing caffeine, guarana and taurine. The initial test makets will be Arizona, California and Nevada.

From the press release:

The new drink – which launches May 26 initially in Arizona, California and Nevada – features an infusion of caffeine, guarana and taurine. Honey added during the brewing process gives Mickey’s Stinger a light, smooth taste. The new malt beverage contains seven percent alcohol by volume (ABV) and will be distributed in 16-ounce single serve cans and six-packs of 16-ounce cans.

“Today’s 21- to 27-year-old consumer is looking for something different in their alcohol beverages and has responded with great enthusiasm to caffeinated malt beverages,” said Dan Hennessy, marketing manager for Mickey’s Brewing Company. “But these consumers will readily tell you they drink existing brands despite the taste, not because of the taste. That’s where we see real opportunity for Mickey’s Stinger. Mickey’s Stinger is an innovative and smooth tasting product that consumers will enjoy.”

Stinger is the first extension of the Mickey’s brand franchise in years. The brand, traditionally known for its distinctive taste, unique bottle and iconic hornet logo, has been a staple of the malt liquor category for decades.

Mickey’s Stinger will be competing against Anheuser-Busch’s Tilt (a malt beverage with caffeine, guarana, and ginseng), B-to-the-E (a fruit-flavored caffeine beer) and 24 Seven (a malt beverage with caffeine by Mix Master Beverage in Nevada, though it’s made in Wisconsin by City Brewing).

Gordon Biersch Releases Hefeweizen in Bottles

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Gordon Biersch has just released their German-style hefeweizen in 12-oz. bottles. Currently, they are available throughout northern California and parts of southern.

From the press release:

“Natural fermentation imparts distinctive notes of citrus and a magnificent effervescence, making our Hefeweizen the perfect beer for spring and summer,” said Dan Gordon, Gordon Biersch co-founder and director of brewing operations. “Hefeweizen has been one of our most popular seasonal draft brews for years. Crafted using traditional Bavarian brewing techniques and ingredients, it has a crisp taste and aromatic character that captures the essence of Bavarian-style unfiltered wheat beer unlike any other Hefeweizen on the market.”

Translated from German, Hefeweizen means “yeast and wheat.” Gordon Biersch uses a unique Bavarian yeast strain, 67% malted wheat and 100% Bavarian Hallertauer hops to achieve a fresh, effervescent beer with a distinctive flavor profile that includes hints of banana, bubble gum and clove. Naturally carbonated to a level 20% higher than most beers, it is a refreshing beer, perfect for warm weather.

Dan Gordon was the first American in more than 30 years to graduate from the prestigious five-year brewing engineering program at the world-renowned Technical University of Munich. Under his watchful eye, Gordon Biersch adheres to the strictest brewing standards in the world, using only the highest quality two-row malted barley, Hallertauer hops, and German yeast from Weihenstephan to brew its celebrated beers. In 1997, Gordon Biersch began bottling and distributing its famed brews with the opening of its 114,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art brewing and bottling facility in San Jose, California. The Gordon Biersch Brewing Company is now largest brewery in the Bay Area.

Putting Beer in Cans: 21st Amendment Cans Their Beer

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Back in the last week of April, I visited the Ball Can Factory in Fairfield, California to watch the first beer cans for 21st Amendment Restaurant & Brewery being manufactured. Last week, I followed up on that story to watch the next part of the can’s journey to your hand. So I joined owner/brewer Shaun O’Sullivan and his assistant brewer, Mike D., early Thursday morning at the brewpub to watch as they went through the process of taking empty cans and turning them into a full six-pack of beer. I even had a chance to pitch in briefly, which was great fun. All of the equipment used for the canning came from Cask Brewing Systems of Calgary, Canada. So I’ll step you through the process in detail:


First, Shaun O’Sullivan pulls out empty cans ready to be filled. At this point they have no end on one side and are open on top.


The cans are then rinsed and sterilized.

The next step is to fill the cans using the filler pictured here being tested prior to being used.

The empty cans are then placed under the two nozzles to be filled.

Where the beer fills the can rather quickly, in no more than a few seconds.


They are slightly overfilled to insure the proper amount as the end is readied to be placed on the top of the can.


A tray full of metal ends sits in between the two machines.


The trick is to place an end on one side of the opening and then seat the end on the entire can.


The next machine in the process is the seamer.


Which rotates very fast and double seams the end to the can top.


The can is carefully placed in between the gap, which is relatively small (I knocked a couple of the ends off doing this which meant having to discard those cans).


Then a lever is pulled forward and down which closes the gap and begins rotating the can.


Which double seals the end to the can, making it airtight.


The last machine attaches the six-pack ring to create a six-pack of cans.


Red cones are set on top of six cans and a lever releases the cones, creating a gap so a plastic ring may be placed on top of the cones.


Then the lever pushes the rings over the cans and seals them in place.


Voilà, Mike D. shows off a finished six-pack!

Here’s a movie of the entire canning process that follows it from empty can to finished six-pack. But be warned, it’s a very large file (over 87 MB). You can either download the movie to your desktop or just click on the link to play it in your web browser (assuming your web browser has the quicktime plug-in installed).

21A Cans Now For Sale

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The 21st Amendment canned beer that I’ve been following are now officially for sale, according to a press release I received this morning from the brewpub.

From the press release:

Today, Monday May 8th at 11:30AM, the 21st Amendment is proud to announce the release of it’s infamous Watermelon Wheat and 21A-IPA. in cans. That’s right Cans! A better package than glass bottles, lighter and more convenient.

25 craft breweries across the country are putting their hand-crafted beer in cans and having great success. Your first beer was probably in a can. Most likely a light domestic that would of not tasted any better in a bottle. Times of changed. The technology surrounding can design and the lining within the can have created a product that surpasses the standard glass bottle. Cans are impenetrable to light, keeping the beer fresher, longer and they do not leak as they have no crown tops. An all around great package.

Whatever your perception was about cans, we challenge you to change. Just as there was a time when you switched from light-insipid domestic beer and tried your first craft beer and were blown away by the flavor, come and crack open a “cold one” of one of the 21st Amendment’s hand-crafted beers and challenge your perception.

Imagine your first sip, out of a can, of our award-winning 21A-IPA, a beer that is 7% alcohol with a huge hop aroma and over-the-top-bitterness or the infamous Watermelon Wheat brewed with fresh watermelon and perfect for hot summer days. You will be very surprised.

I helped very briefly with some of the canning last week and will have another photo report to complete this story up on the beer blog in the next day or so. Also, look for my review of the IPA in a can later this week. The IPA cans are cooling in my refrigerator as we speak but there are deadlines to meet before I can crack them open.

Watermelon Wheat in Cans

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I stopped by 21st Amendment yesterday to pick up a six-pack of their Watermelon Wheat in cans for a tasting later tonight. I had some on draft first and then had one out of the can. I couldn’t really detect any difference in flavor apart from the cans having more carbonation. It’s possible that’s because they were only filled a few days before and will settle down some but the cans I watched popped open all had a tendency to foam up out of the can. But that’s the only negative thing I can say, and that’s not much. But out of the can the beer was every bit as flavorful as on draft and I could detect no metallic flavors whatsoever. That evening, my wife and I each had a can with dinner — homemade chicken corn chowder that was a little spicy — and it worked quite well with our meal. My wife commented that since she’d been “trained to drink beer out of a glass” she was having a hard time drinking it straight from the can and she also noted the carbonation. Of course, I swelled with pride since I was the one who taught her that from before we even started dating. So just to see the difference, we poured about half of the beer from our cans into a glass. It produced an excellent pillowy white head and smoothed out nicely once the carbonation dissipated. The color was a clear light golden hue. Light and flavorful, it had that signature subtle but omnipresent watermelon character that defines this unique beer and which has led to its popularity. It’s an excellent thirst-quenching beer, a fruit beer for people who don’t think they like fruit beers. And it has a wonderful ability to cut through spicy food.

If people can get over the hurdle of the bias against beer in cans, they have a sure winner on their hands, I think. But since I share that bias against canned beer myself, I can’t see it happening overnight. I think part of the full drinking experience includes seeing the beer, watching it pour into the glass as the head rises up like a volcano threatening to escape the confines of the glass. Seeing the lace stick to the insides as the carbonation races into the air leaving the head to sink back down like a falling cake is almost magical. So I know I’ve romanticized drinking beer but it’s hard to shake such a potent image, even if I created it myself. But I’m also keenly aware that there are plenty of times when good beer in a can would be a godsend and I’d happily quaff one out of the can on those occasions. Hopefully, enough people will be curious enough about the novelty of it to give it a try. And I think if they do, they’ll be pleasantly surprised to find that beer out of a modern can manages to taste quite delicious and all our prejudice is rooted in remembrance of things past rather than on today’s reality. The technology is pretty amazing, that’s for sure. It’s gotten to the point where the only real criteria is how good is the stuff in the can. And in this case, the beer is quite delicious.

A Quick Trip to 21A

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I made a quick trip into San Francisco’s 21st Amendment brewpub yesterday to pick up their new canned beer for a tasting this evening at the Celebrator offices. I met brewer/ower Shaun O’Sullivan after the Giants game, during which Barry Bonds hit #712, at the brewpub and we sat with some friends for a quick drink.

21A brewer Shaun, Joe, from Eldo’s Brewery, and Jen, from Magnolia Pub & Brewery.

Brewers Shaun and Joe.

Shaun, Joe and Jen drink a toast to the new cans.

The Watermelon Wheat, now in cans.

Great Divide Releases 4-Packs of Hercules & Yeti

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Great Divide Brewing of Denver, Colorado announced yesterday that they’re making two of their big beer series ales available in 12 oz. bottles in a four-pack package. Initially, these beers were only available on draft and in 22 oz. bottles. But the big beers have proven so popular and demand for the beers in 12 oz. bottles so great that the brewery responded. The Hercules Double IPA is fine imperial IPA but the Yeti Imperial Stout literally blew me away the first time I tried it. I was so impressed by it that I shot off an e-mail to owner Brian Dunn to congratulate him as soon as I got home from the tasting.

From the press release:

“Hercules Double IPA, Yeti Imperial Stout, Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout and Old Ruffian Barley Wine have become a very large part of our family of beers, and we’ve had a lot of fun brewing and selling them. We chose Hercules and Yeti to put in 4-packs, so these two behemoths could raise a little hell together on the cooler shelf” said Dunn.

Hercules Double IPA is a brash but creamy wonder, delivering a huge amount of piney, floral, and citrusy hop flavor and aroma from start to finish. A hefty backbone of nutty, toffee-like malt character balances Hercules’ aggressive, punchy hop profile. Hercules is 9.1% Alcohol by Volume (ABV), and 85 International Bittering Units (IBUs).

Yeti Imperial Stout, Silver Medal winner at the 2005 Great American Beer Festival, is an onslaught of the senses. An almost viscous, inky black brew, Yeti opens with a massive, roasty, chocolate, coffee malt flavor that eventually gives way to rich toffee and burnt caramel notes. Packed with an enormous quantity of American hops, Yeti’s hop profile reveals a wonderfully dry, hoppy finish. Yeti weighs in at 9.5% ABV and 75 IBUs.

Four-packs of the Yeti Imperial Stout and Hercules Double IPA will be released May 1.

Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale

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I was fortunate enough today to have a preview taste — from the tank — of the newest beer from Lagunitas Brewing in Petaluma, California. Bottling will likely begin next week and should be in stores shorty thereafter. The new beer is called Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale, a homage to the troubles Lagunitas has recently faced with the state ABC. And yes, they have already received label approval, believe it or not. As is common wth many beers from Lagunitas, it is quite singular and defies easy style classification. After discussing it with owner Tony Magee and trying a sample directly from the tank, the best way I can describe it is a well-hopped imperial mild! It’s around 10.2% abv and the alcohol presence is definitely felt as is the big hop character. But it has the light body of an English mild that’s easy drinking with a clean, refreshing finish. These seeming contradictions, however, work and the beer has great potential. It will be interesting to taste the finished product.

The label for Lagunitas’ newest beer.