Pike Releasing Harlot’s Harvest & Wolf In The Woods

From Pike:

Pike is pleased to announce the release of two special Fall beers.

PIKE HARLOT’S HARVEST PUMPKIN ALE

It’s time to harvest pumpkins!

Pike Harlot’s Harvest reminds us that Pike Brewing was founded in the LaSalle Hotel, a former brothel run by Madam Nellie Curtis. Nellie’s girls were sometimes called harlots, though we imagine they were more affectionately known as ‘pumpkins’. This brew is big, bold and voluptuous, bursting with caramel and spices.

• IBU: 30
• ABV: 8.50%
• OG: 1.080

Pike Harlot’s Harvest is available now on draft and in 22 oz. dinner bottles. Find Pike Brewing Company beer on tap or in bottles near you. 

Watch for a WOLF IN THE WOODS
To be released September 21, 2015

Late summer and early fall heralds fresh hop season. Pike Brewing’s lead brewer, Art Dixon, traveled the short distance to the Yakima Valley to harvest fresh Simcoe hops. On September 4th we brewed with these hops (within 24 hours of their harvest) to ensure that we captured the essence of all their fresh and floral character in Pike Wolf in the Woods. Hoppy and refreshing with tons of Simcoe hop flower aroma, this seasonal is rich in pine, passion fruit and citrus notes.

Why did we name it Wolf in the Woods? That is the literal translation of humulus lupulus, the Latin word for hops.   

MALT VARIETIES: Skagit Valley Alba, Skagit Valley Copeland Munich, Cara-Pils, Malted Wheat, Rolled Oats 

HOP VARIETIES: All Simcoe Hop Flower (wet, fresh hops).

• IBU: 26
• ABV: 5.1%
• OG: 1.050

That beer is an agricultural product was lost on the Mad Men advertisers who helped shape the American attitude about this age-old drink. Nature’s masterpieces: cereal grains, herbs, yeast, and spices were unimportant in an era where flavor and character were scant considerations. Brewers strove for and achieved tasteless beers made with huge amounts of corn syrup and additives; advertisers marketed sexy lifestyles rather than the quality and flavor of beer’s raw materials.

Prohibition put all-malt beers on the endangered list; that is until America’s ‘craft beer renaissance’ which began in the 1980’s.  Even with this resurgence in flavorful craft beer we’ve been sorely lacking craft maltsters, those who malt the grains which impart flavor, color, mouthfeel and more to beer. Essentially, the soul of beer.

Enter Skagit Valley Malting, founded in Burlington, Washington in 2012.
This amazing startup is set to turn the world of malt, and craft beer, on its ear. Skagit Valley Malting is our state’s first craft maltster since Prohibition. They work in concert with WSU’s Bread Lab to breed barley for flavor; the Port of Skagit to preserve farm land that is regarded as among the best in the world for growing the low protein barley necessary for brewing craft beer; Skagit Valley farmers, who rotate their crops with nitrogen inducing grains; and brewers like Pike Brewing.

Pike Brewing has been working with Skagit Valley Malting since their foundation.

We made history in June 2015 by introducing Pike Locale Skagit Valley Alba, the first U.S. varietal beer. The goal was to brew a beer that reflected local terroir.  Pike Locale is strictly local, with the first batch of Alba malt from Skagit Valley Malting and hops from Yakima Valley, and significantly, is unique and delicious.

The Grain Gathering – August 20-22
For the past two years Pike Brewing has joined WSU’s The Bread Lab’s annual gathering of experts in plant breeding, milling, baking, malting, brewing and distilling which is held at WSU’s Extension’s gorgeous and verdant Mount Vernon campus. Charles spoke on a panel on malted barley and its impact on craft beer and spirits. Rose Ann set up a table featuring Pike Locale Skagit Valley Alba and Pike #4 Alba IPA while Charles donned his backpack of Pike Locale pouring pure pleasure to an appreciative crowd. The Grain Gathering was educational, delicious and a lot of fun; a real taste of the terroir!