Weyerbacher News

From Dan:

Weyerbacher Update – August 3, 2010
Dan Weirback: Imperial Pumpkin Ale is back!  Many markets have it already, others will be getting it soon.  Our last batches of Fifteen come out this month as well, so if it hasn’t made it to your area yet, it’ll be there soon.  Be sure to check out the news story on Weyerbacher Hops Farm on our website and also view the video we just posted on the home page of our hops crop, just filmed this weekend.  Harvest Ale is gonna be great this year!

Chris Wilson, Head Brewer: Hello All!  Well, I missed you last month.  I’ll see if I can make up for the loss.  Even though we have been working hard brewing Imperial Pumpkin Ale and AutumnFest, we have still made time to keep up the Brewer’s Select Series.  Lima is up next and no, we did not make a lima bean beer or anything inspired by the Peruvian capital city.  We made a relatively new style (new to GABF) called an "American-Style India Black Ale".  The name is pretty self explanatory, but you’ve already had a beer or two so I’ll explain.  It is like taking a traditional IPA and adding dark malts which add color and a moderate roasty character.  It is still in the tank as I type, but we have added nearly 5.5 pounds of hops per barrel making this beer as sticky as any we have ever made.  It should end up being around 6.3% ABV and will tip the IBU scale at around 70.  <<<goose bumps>>> The new beers just get me excited.

On another note, if you have not checked out the new website, please do.  It is a "blog-style" site that makes it far easier for you to communicate with us.  If you have a question about a particular beer or just want to shout out how much you love it, go to the site, post it, and start a conversation!

Chris Lampe, Production Manager: I thought I’d talk a little bit about filtration this month and what it  involves. Mondays and Wednesdays are filtration days at Weyerbacher.  We use a 5 meter diatomaceous earth filter.  We start the day with washing and sanitizing the brite beer tanks and the filter.  We then begin the filtration process.  We use a number of different methods depending on the beer.  Our lower abv beers are filtered using what we call our standard filtration.  Higher abv beers get a “hyflow filtration” and finally there is a special filtration method for the beers that use our house abbey yeast (Merry Monks Ale and Quad).  At this time of year we are filtering 3 different beers a day using all of those methods.  This generally takes from 7:am till 1 or 2:pm depending on the types of beers and the level of difficulty.  Then it’s time to clean the filter and the fermentation vessels all of which takes another 3 hours to wind up the day at 4:pm.  I’ll be talking some more about filtration in the next few newsletters.

Visitor Center: Remember, we’re always open Saturdays from Noon to 3pm for free tours and tastings.  We also have many nice wearables and glassware for sale.  Of course, you can buy a mixed case of beer or a freshly filled growler of draft to go.

A Note on Verboten: At this time our management team is contemplating the possibility of making Verboten, our Belgian-style Pale Ale a year-round beer in 2011.   We’d like to get as much feedback on this as possible before we make the final decision.   Please write us through the website and let us know what you think. http://weyerbacher.com/contact-us/.

Cheers!