ThirstyBear Adds Four Small Batch Beers to New Craft Beer Program

For the final week of September and full month of October 2016, ThirstyBear introduces four new beers, including their 20TH ANNIVERSARY WET HOP HARVEST ALE, THE DECEIVER (American Tripel Double IPA), OATGRIST (English Brown Ale), and BLACK BEAR LAGER (German-style Schwarzbier). ThirstyBear always serves nine distinctive beers on tap plus two cask conditioned beers. For detailed information regarding ThirstyBear’s latest lineup of freshly brewed beers, please see the beer descriptions listed below.

20TH ANNIVERSARY WET HOP HARVEST ALE (6.1% ABV, 47 IBU)
The 20th Anniversary Ale is brewed with a cornucopia of grains and fresh hops. Rich barley malt couples with bright wheat malt, a touch of silky oats melds with spicy rye malt, and all blend with the smooth mouth-feel provided by nitrogen conditioning and dispense. This complex mash is spiced with fresh hop harvested the morning of the brew to provide a resinous, grassy, herbal character to this celebratory beer. The varietals used are Gargoyle with its mango notes and Ivanhoe with its herbal and floral aromas.

THE DECEIVER (9.7% ABV, 50 IBU)
Inspired by the strong and mischievous golden ales of Belgium, this brew is born as a Tripel and matures into an American Double IPA. The brew begins with a huge malt bill of lightly kilned, golden Pils malt for a honeyed, bready base with an added dose of candy sugar to keep it dry but with a healthy ABV. Magnum, Centennial, Ahtanum and Azacca hops are added in the kettle. The beer is dry hopped with Bravo and Ahtanum. This all leads to a fully grown beer ThirstyBear call’s THE DECEIVER, which has a massive bouquet of floral notes and ripe fruit. Fermented with ThirstyBear’s house ale yeast and coming in at a dizzying 9.7% ABV, the lines between Double and Tripel are deceptive with this bold brew.

OATGRIST (5.2% ABV, 21 IBU)
The base of this beer is modeled on the traditional English Brown Ale. ThirstyBear then adds a hearty amount of Malted Oats to the grist. The malted oats provide a sweet berry-nut flavor along with light caramel notes and a creamy, satiny finish. This malt is accompanied by Biscuit Malt for a toasty, warm bread aroma, along with Chocolate Malt for a light smoky, coffee flavor. The creamy mouthfeel of the oats is accentuated by the benefit of traditional nitrogen conditioning and dispense. The British hop stalwart, Fuggle, lends some mild woody/cedar and minty hop notes to round out this autumn elixir.

BLACK BEAR LAGER (5.2% ABV, 28 IBU)
ThirstyBear brews up several lagers, including the Helles (Light) and the Dunkel (Dark) on the current menu. The German-style Schwarzbier (Black Beer) is at the darkest end of the lager spectrum. A very important ingredient in Schwarzbier is the use of de-husked black malt. With no husk, this unique malt looses the harsher tannic quality found in the malts used to make Irish Stout. This provides a smooth tasting black beer, with a silky mouthfeel. It also offers a pleasant bittersweet chocolate flavor complemented by the use of "noble" heritage hops with floral and earthy notes. ThirstyBear also uses the Perle hop in BLACK BEAR LAGER, which has long been a favorite at ThirstyBear ever since it took home a Bronze medal at the 2004 World Beer Cup.

Come enjoy a pint of one of ThirstyBear’s newest brews. Come soon! These particular elixirs will only be available through September and October 2016.