Yazoo / Calfkiller Co-Brewed “The Beacon” – Tennessee High Tax Ale
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MyBeer Buzz
Here’s your first look at the Yazoo Brew / Calfkiller co-brewed beer called “The Beacon” being brewed to call attention to Tennessee’s “outmoded and unfair beer tax laws.” Be sure to check out the pig-chart per gallon tax price comparison for wine ($1.21), Domestic Beer ($1.37) and Craft Beer ($1.86). This from Yazoo:
We have never done a collaboration brew with another brewery before. But about three weeks ago, I traveled up to Sparta, TN, to brew a seven-barrel batch with the Sergios of Calfkiller Brewing. I had been impressed with Dave and Don and
their approach to beers and brewing since I met them a few years ago. I think we have a lot in common and I always enjoyed sharing a few beers with them. One thing we definitely have in common is our drive to change Tennessee’s beer taxes, which unfairly tax craft brewers at a higher per-gallon rate than beers from the big brewers, and which have risen every year since 1954, to where TN’s beer taxes are the highest in the country. So… we decided to put our frustrations into liquid form. Introducing… THE BEACON! Shining a light on a STYLE OF BEER UNIQUE TO TENNESSEE! THE "TENNESSEE HIGH TAX ALE" STYLE! Yes, only Tennessee can lay claim to this unique style of beer, where the taxes are raised to an almost unbelievable level of $37.00 per barrel. Other areas of the country can claim unique styles of beer, but only in TN are beer taxes taken to this level. We should be so proud!
Your first chance to taste this beer will be if you were lucky enough to have gotten one of the 1000 tickets to the 12S Winter Warmer beer festival this Sat, Dec 1. But there’s more – we will be tapping kegs of this across Tennessee in the weeks to come. We will be brewing a second batch at Yazoo Brewing soon and plan on bottling it up in big 750 ml bottles, for distribution wherever the light needs to shine in Tennessee.
What is The Beacon, you might ask? Calfkiller and Yazoo brewed this beer with some German oak smoked wheat malt, local TN honey, and some in-house Calfkiller-roasted coffee. It’s fermented with Calfkiller’s house ale yeast and unfiltered. I am so happy with how it turned out! The nose is fresh, clean and slightly flowery. The smoked wheat shows up in the beginning of the first sip, followed by a herbal, earthy body but finishing dry and only slightly sweet.
Again, try it this weekend at the 12S Winter Warmer, and then if you missed it there, stay tuned for updates on where we tap the remaining kegs. Later in a few months we will brew another batch at Yazoo for bottling!
And, if for some reason, you don’t feel that Tennessee’s unique claim to beer fame should be our highest beer taxes in the United States, stop by our TN Craft Brewers Guild tent at the festival for more information on how you can help change that! We will also have details up soon, on the TN Craft Brewers Guild website http://www.tncraftbrewers.org/.
Thanks,
Cheers,
Linus Hall
Yazoo Brewing
.
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