beernesday

my growler article from last november: FREE THE HOPS! REBECCA WHYMAN •  NOVEMBER 24, 2017 iStock photo Of the four ingredients in beer, hops are the New World’s contribution. It seems rather fitting then, that North America has its economic paws  allll  over hops. Trademarks, patents, royalties – how are these business-y things having their way with our beloved hops? It must be big beer’s fault! I understand why you’d want to make hops proprietary – it takes time, effort and money to painstakingly develop a new hop, test it eight ways to Sunday, and devote acreage to propagating it. It can take 15-20 years before any money starts coming in, and then on only a fraction of your experiments. But do you really need 20 years of royalties to recoup that investment? Off the backs of your growers and the lovely brewers who exalt your wonder-hop? C’mon, only big beer would do such a greedy thing. Experimental breeding has brought us wonder-hops that can do it all: h...

two bits of news from new belgium: New Belgium Brewing to Tweak Abbey and Trippel Recipes Recipe adjustments highlight advances in hop and malt production Ft. Collins, Colo., September 2, 2015 – Two of New Belgium Brewing’s longest running beers, Abbey Belgian Style Dubbel and Trippel Belgian Style Ale, are being reimagined and updated for a new era. Both beers started life as homebrew recipes more than 25 years ago and new developments in hop and malt manufacturing have been incorporated. Subtle recipe tweaks will allow the malty and hoppy characteristics of each beer to shine through. A new yeast strain will help balance the esters and phenol while emphasizing the Belgian character of these beers. Although these are among the first Belgian-inspired craft beers produced in the U.S., New Belgium brewers could not resist tinkering with these classics. Internal sensory panelists affirmed the results a success. “As an American craft brewer founded on Belgian tradition, we have a ...