Beer, Bars & Brewers #17

Welcome back to this week’s Beers, Bars & Brewers. Today, we’re taking a look at Holsten Brauwelt’s newest ale, a craft beer that’s produced using 45 million year old yeast, and ABInBev’s “please take us seriously and stop being mean to us” tour. Cheers!

We know that beer cocktails can be a bit difficult. When done right, they’re fantastic. But if they’re in the wrong hands, then uuhff – our condolences to your taste buds. With Lucky Peach though, you can’t go wrong. Justin Kennedy compiled a list of “11 Things to do with Beer”, his suggestions range from dilutions, over to micheladas, and back to beergaritas. We think he’s nailed it.

Rotklinker Brown Ale: Holsten Brauwelt’s New Edition

Holsten Brauwelt’s new edition, the Rotlinker Brown Ale, is named for the special malt, which give the beer its auburn color. Brewed ‘American Style’, the ale boasts with 6,4% and has a strong, yet pleasantly balanced taste. Earlier this year, the Rotklinker won gold at the Meininger Craft Beer Awards. Sold in a can the ale is being marketed in conjunction with Holsten Brauwelt’s Pale Ale, which was released in March.

Craft Beer Made using 45m Year Old Yeast

Fossil Fuels Brewing Company have teamed up with fellow micro brewery Schubros to brew a beer with “yeast extracted from a 45-million-year-old leaf that has been frozen within a piece of solid amber”. The drinks business spoke to Schubros Brewery’s brewer Ian Schuster, who said that “the yeast was high maintenance and needed to be roused”, this was an explanation as to why the first batches didn’t taste particularly great. Thanks to the help of a Crowdfunder campaign the team has been able to experiment with it more. They are currently still looking for more funds “in order to help nourish and protect the yeast and bring additional styles to the market”. However, this isn’t the first time this beer has been brewed. Already in 2008 The Washington Post reported on the Fossil Fuels Brewing Co. It seems like the latest round of crowdfunding has garnered the attention of the press.

The AB-InBev “Why Don’t They Like Us” Tour Continues

Over the past couple of years, ABInBev has kept busy buying craft breweries. For obvious reasons, people are pissed. The Full Pint took it upon itself to track ABInBev ‘why don’t they like us tour’. Essentially, the beer conglomerate is groveling to the craft community, “prancing their show ponies” around, in hopes that the former-craft-now-corporate brewers are still taken seriously.

The Full Pint’s take on it is pretty spot on: “Looking closer regarding them ‘fighting back’, it seems they are not content with being an international conglomerate that may make decent to good beer. They want to blend in with their respective communities, be part of the local guilds they were recently kicked out of, and receive the invitations to the festivals they are no longer being included in. The whole purpose of local craft guilds and craft only festivals are to band together and protect themselves against the aggressive, predatory practices of the big guys. Essentially, the wolves are scratching their heads as to why the lambs aren’t inviting them over for tea.”