Craft beer hops along its creative course
Head brewer Charlie Buettner adds fresh hops to a tank of Two Hemispheres IPA at Mad Fox Brewing in Falls Church, Va.(Photo: H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY)
Story Highlights
- Mad Fox Brewing Co., in Virginia, is among 600-plus breweries at the Great American Beer Festival
- Of more than 2,500 breweries in U.S., most are craft breweries and 1,600 more are in the works
- Craft beer sales make up more than 6% of all beer sales, up from 5% in 2011
FALLS CHURCH, Va. — The pungent grassy smell of bright green hop flowers fills the air at the Mad Fox Brewing Co.
Freshly harvested and overnighted from the Yakima Valley in Washington state to the brewpub, located just west of Washington, D.C., these Citra hops are being stuffed into porous bags that will be added to an already fermented ale, made with Australian Galaxy hops.
Like giant tea bags, the steeping second hop treatment will impart an added freshness and fruity punch of flavor to the brewery's Two Hemispheres India Pale Ale. This "wet hopping" process creates a relatively new style of ale that arose from beer drinkers' affinity for ever-increasing bitterness. "It's just a different way for people to get their hop fix," says Mad Fox head brewer Charlie Buettner.
Timing is critical in creating such a beer because the hops must be harvested, shipped and added to beer before going stale within a few days. The process costs more than that for a typical ale, but many brewers embrace the chance to stretch their creative muscles. "We like looking for what new twists can be taken" with traditional beer styles, Buettner says.
There's no bigger display of the ever-expanding varieties of beer than the 32nd annual Great American Beer Festival[1], conducted in Denver this week, by The Brewers Association[2]. Judging includes more than 3,100 beers from 624 U.S. brewers.
LIST: A Few Favorite Beers[3]
INTERVIEW: 'The Beer Diaries'[4]
Mega-brewers such as Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors participate, too, but "it's the craft brewers' showcase," says Buettner. Mad Fox[5], which opened in 2010, has won medals each year and submitted the maximum of 10 beers for this year's competition.
Craft brewers — defined as small and independent breweries with an output of fewer than 6 million barrels annually — have become the driving force of the beer industry, and of local communities. Big brands still make and sell most of the beer consumed in the U.S., but total sales have been flat. Meanwhile, craft beer sales rose 15% in dollars and 13% in volume in the first six months of 2013, the association says.
Craft beer continues to track upward. "You've got this localization of beer movement and a cultural shift in taste change," says Julia Herz, director of the association's craft beer program. "But you have also got a small business success story that has happened."
With more than 2,500 breweries currently operating in the U.S. — the most since the pre-Prohibition era — and another 1,600 or so in the works, a golden age of beer is underway. And ever more complex and unique quaffs are arising from craft breweries' sometimes strange experiments.
Mad Fox teamed up with other local female brewers on a "Pretty in Pink" pomegranate Saison beer for Breast Cancer Awareness month, with 20% of sales going to charity. And250 pounds of heirloom pumpkins from Homestead Farms in Maryland went into its just-released Punkinator.
Customers "are looking for variety. They are looking for unique products," says Bill Madden, Mad Fox co-founder and executive brewer. After demonstrating a knack for brewing beer at home, Madden entered the master brewers program at the University of California-Davis. Upon graduation, he landed at the Capital City Brewing Co. in Washington.
The brewpub, which produced about 1,400 barrels last year, is upping its output as Nationals Park and D.C. eateries have begun serving its beers on tap. "I'm doing things here that I have never done before, which is exciting. We are always coming up with new stuff."
Similar strategies are flowing across the country. Boulevard Brewing Co.[6] in Kansas City, Mo., donates 10% of revenue from its KC Pils to local charities. In Athens, Ga., Terrapin Beer Co.[7] supports the Dogwood Alliance with its Tree Hugger Ale and a Reunion Ale brewed in collaboration with Shmaltz Brewing Co.[8] of Clifton, N.Y. — its ingredients include chocolate, cinnamon and vanilla — benefits bone cancer research.
Limited releases, highly sought after by the growing beer cognoscenti, can arise from all types of creative tie-ins. Brewery Ommegang[9] in Cooperstown, N.Y., which is owned by Belgian brewer Duvel, has released its second Game of Thrones-themed beer, Take the Black Stout[10]. And Dogfish Head Craft Brewery[11] in Rehoboth Beach, Del., let Grateful Dead fans help choose the ingredients for American Beauty pale ale, just out.
A pioneer in so-called "extreme" brews, Dogfish Head also recently produced a small batch beer that included the dust of crushed lunar meteorites[12] — acquired from spacesuit maker ILC Dover, as an ingredient. The apply-named Bitter Rivalry beer, brewed by Terrapin and Gainesville, Fla.'s Swamp Head Brewery[13], will be tapped in Jacksonville next month during the Florida-Georgia football game.
Mad Fox is tapping into a more down-to-earth style that's gaining traction by making more beers that are aged in bourbon, brandy and wine barrels. An as-yet-unnamed sour beer is conditioning for two years in rye whiskey barrels from Catoctin Creek Distillery[14] in nearby Purcellville, Va.
Terrapin is now experimenting with beers aged in barrels that previously contained tequila. Special releases "are kind of our TV commercial to get people excited about our brand," says Terrapin's vice president of sales and marketing Dustin Watts. "We've had to push the envelope further and further and further to make sure that we are staying relevant."
Terrapin submitted its first beer to the festival in 2002 and won a gold medal for its Rye Pale Ale. That helped co-founders John Cochran and Brian Buckowski gain investors for its brewing facility, which opened in 2007 and is about undergo a second major expansion. "It was a jump-starter for our company," Watts says.
Fresh hops from Yakima, Wash., are used in Mad Fox Brewing Co.'s Two Hemisphere IPA.(Photo: H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY)
Another recent trend involves hoppy but lower-alcohol "session" beers such as Mad Fox's Ambassador IPA, a joint effort with beer-centric Washington restaurant Smoke and Barrel[15], which boasts a relatively low 4.3% alcohol content, and Terrapin's Recreation Ale, which is available in cans (4.7%).
Mega-brewers are bringing to market their own craft-style beers, but it will be tough for them to be as nimble as their craft counterparts. "Many will argue that the small craft brewers are artists," Herz says. "They can experiment, and at the same time the American adult palate has advanced enough to want to experiment with them."
That creativity is what has attracted many to craft brewing. A tech entrepreneur, Mad Fox co-founder Rick Garvin says his daily work, which these days involves a digital copyright database for the music industry, requires a creative outlet. "Some people garden; some people woodwork. I made beer," says Garvin, who was a home brewer before teaming up with Madden to open Mad Fox. "If you are only dealing with intangibles all day long, you end up in a parody of Office Space."
References
- ^ http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/ (www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com)
- ^ http://www.brewersassociation.org/ (www.brewersassociation.org)
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/10/10/mike-snider-favorite-craft-beers/2963113/ (www.usatoday.com)
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/10/10/greg-zeschuk-bioware-to-beer-diaries/2963525/ (www.usatoday.com)
- ^ http://madfoxbrewing.com/ (madfoxbrewing.com)
- ^ http://www.boulevard.com/ (www.boulevard.com)
- ^ http://terrapinbeer.com/ (terrapinbeer.com)
- ^ http://www.shmaltzbrewing.com/ (www.shmaltzbrewing.com)
- ^ http://www.ommegang.com/ (www.ommegang.com)
- ^ http://www.ommegang.com/got/take_the_black.php (www.ommegang.com)
- ^ http://www.dogfish.com/ (www.dogfish.com)
- ^ http://www.dogfish.com/community/blogfish/members/justin-williams/celest-jewel-ale-brewed-with-moon-dust-served-in-space-suit-koozies.htm-0 (www.dogfish.com)
- ^ http://swamphead.com/ (swamphead.com)
- ^ http://catoctincreekdistilling.com/ (catoctincreekdistilling.com)
- ^ http://www.smokeandbarreldc.com/ (www.smokeandbarreldc.com)