Realbeer.com Beer Therapy

Brooklyn Brewery, D. Carnegie & Co., and Carlsberg Sweden have announced the launch of a new brewery and restaurant in central Stockholm.

According to a press release, the Brooklyn-New Carnegie Brewery will be built in the Luma Factory buildings in Hammarby Sjöstad, a residential and commercial complex that fronts on Stockholm harbor. The waterfront brewery will have brewing capacity for 8,000 barrels (almost 250,000 gallons), and restaurant capacity for 100 visitors inside and another 150 visitors outside.

The Brooklyn Brewery will manage and operate the project through a wholly owned Swedish subsidiary, and Brooklyn brewmaster Garrett Oliver and his team will brew special Brooklyn beers and develop new beers for the New Carnegie brand. “We love Stockholm, and the whole Brooklyn brewing team is looking forward to their stints at Brooklyn-New Carnegie. We’re going to have a lot of fun brewing and creating beers with our Swedish team,” said Oliver.

In 2011, the Brooklyn Brewery collaborated with Carnegie to produce a bourbon barrel-aged version of Carnegie Porter to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Carnegie Brewery.

“We distributed Carnegie Porter years ago in New York,” said Brooklyn Chief Operating Officer Eric Ottaway. “We have great respect for the tradition that Carnegie represents, and we look forward to developing the portfolio of beers.”

Joakim Losin, CEO of New Carnegie, said the brewery and restaurant would be a meeting place for Sweden’s craft brewers and their followers, and a school for Swedish beer lovers. The new brewery/restaurant will be open for tours as well as lunch and dinner.

Carnegie is the oldest trademark in Sweden. The company was purchased by Carlsberg when it bought the Pripps Brewery in 2001, and Carlsberg Sweden was established.

Brooklyn Brewery brands have been imported by Carlsberg Sweden since 2006. Sweden is the largest export market for the Brooklyn Brewery.

Brooklyn ships many of its bottled beers to Sweden, including its flagship Brooklyn Lager and its 750-ml bottle-conditioned beers like Brooklyn Local 1 and Brooklyn Sorachi Ace. It also ships tankers of beer to Sweden which are kegged in Falkenberg. Brooklyn Lager and Brooklyn East India Pale Ale are available on draft all over Sweden.

Brooklyn Brewery is America’s leading craft beer exporter.

The Cicerone Certification Program has announced that Canadian Mirella Amato and Missourian Neil Witte became the fifth and sixth individuals to earn the title of Master Cicerone. Amato is the first Canadian citizen and first non-US resident to earn the top rank among beer professionals. Witte works as Field Quality Manager for Boulevard Brewing in Kansas City. They both earned the certification through a series of exams culminating with two days of intense taste testing plus written and oral questioning about beer styles, draft systems, beer evaluation, brewing technology and beer and food pairing.

Overall more than 18,000 have passed the first level Cicerone exam known as Certified Beer Server, but only six individuals have now earned the Master Cicerone title — the third and top level of the program. Founded in 2007, the Cicerone Certification Program tests and certifies beer expertise similar to the wine world’s Master Sommelier program. The Master Cicerone exam includes 10 hours of written questions, 2 hours of oral questions and 2 hours of beer tasting and evaluation.

Witte started at Boulevard Brewing brewer and has worked since 2000 as field quality manager. In this role, he works with distributors and retailers providing education and training on brewing, beer styles, beer and food and draught system installation and maintenance.

Amato runs Beerology, a beer consulting and training service based in Toronto. She conducts guided beer tastings, beer dinners and food pairing workshops for consumers, and retailers and also offers staff training and consulting services for retailers and breweries.

Since it began offering certifications in January 2008, the Cicerone Certification Program has awarded more than 18,500 first level certifications, called Certified Beer Server and 650 certifications at the second level of the program, called Certified Cicerone.

Once again, Wynkoop Brewing Company is seeking beer resumes from the nation’s most beer-minded men and women for its 2013 Beerdrinker of the Year contest. The 17th annual contest seeks and honors America’s most passionate, knowledgeable beer lovers and ambassadors.

The Beerdrinker of the Year wins free beer for life at Wynkoop Brewing Company, a $250 tab at their local brewpub or beer bar, and has his or her name engraved on the Beerdrinker of the Year trophy at Wynkoop.

They also design and brew a special batch of beer at Wynkoop Brewing (with head brewer Andy Brown) as part of their winnings.

The three Beerdrinker of the Year finalists are flown to Denver at Wynkoop’s expense for an action-packed weekend that culminates with the Beerdrinker of the Year National Finals on February 23, 2013 at 2 PM at Wynkoop Brewing.

This year’s three finalists will stay in Denver’s famed Brown Palace Hotel while in town for the finals.

To enter the contest, applicants must submit beer resumes that include the entrant’s beer philosophy and details on their passion for beer and 2012 beer experiences.

Resumes should also detail the entrant’s understanding of beer and its history and importance to civilization, along with the entrant’s efforts to educate others to the joys of great beer.

Resumes for the Beerdrinker of the Year are reviewed by national beer experts and previous Beerdrinker of the Year winners.

Resumes must be sent by email to beerdrinker@wynkoop.com and be received by Wynkoop by no later than December 31. Each entrant will receive an email confirmation that their resume was received.

So who’s up for a 11-beer vertical tasting?

You bring the Stone 02.02.02. We seem to be out.

Stone Brewing Co. released the final beer in its Vertical Epic Ale series Monday, Stone 12.12.12. For those unaware, each year since Feb. 2, 2002 (02.02.02), Stone has released a Stone Vertical Epic Ale beer exactly one year, one month and one day apart. The idea was that each year a beer in the series would be brewed with its own unique recipe, one that would allow the beer to mature over time enhancing the flavors and aromas. The intention was that drinkers would cellar the bottles from each year and open all 11 vintages together for a vertical tasting on Dec. 12, 2012, the date of the last Stone Vertical Epic Ale.

Like everybody lets beer sit around for 11 years.

Fortunately, Stone has an alternative for those of us who kept opening bottles. The brewery will hold a festival at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens: Stone Epic Festival: The Final Chapter. It will take place on December 12 and commence at exactly 12:12 p.m. PST. Festival attendees will have the opportunity to experience all 11 Stone Vertical Epic Ales, in addition to special barrel-aged variations, with food pairing stations featuring dishes specifically created to marry with each of the vintages.

For the record, Stone 12.12.12 Vertical Epic Ale was brewed with a Belgian yeast strain and features cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, rosehips, sweet orange peel, and a dash of clove.

Turns out that Port Brewing/The Lost Abbey has decided to make its Ultimate Box Set a baker’s dozen. The brewery announced that the suprise 13th beer, inspired by “Message in a Bottle” by the Police, will be available Dec. 1, along with a select number of Ultimate Box Set Collector’s Editions for purchase by the public on a first-come, first-serve basis.

“When we began the Box Set releases last January our plan was to release a bonus track and make a number of complete sets available to the general public at the end of the year,” director of brewery operations Tomme Arthur said for a press release. “But as the months progressed we began to worry that the demand was beyond our production levels and we weren’t going to be able to deliver complete sets to both those who reserved them during the year and have some left for the public in December. As a result we opted to make the sets available only to those who reserved them.”

To reserve a complete box set, patrons had to purchase one of the 350 bottles in each monthly Track release. The purchaser’s names were placed in a lottery, 45 were drawn and received the option to purchase a complete box sets at the end of the year.

The Collector’s Edition Box Sets include all 13 beers released throughout the year, a hand-built and individually numbered Lost Abbey road case, and an album-style book created by Grammy award-winning designer Matt Taylor of Varnish Studio. The book includes detailed descriptions of each Track, album cover art for each beer’s label, “liner notes” from Arthur, and a faux The Lost Abbey vinyl record.

Individual bottles of Track 13 and the complete Box Set Collector’s editions will go on sale in The Lost Abbey tasting room at 10 a.m. Saturday. A total of 350 bottles of Track 13 will be available for purchase and must be consumed in the tasting room.

Powell’s Books and Rogue Ales & Spirits have collaborated to create Rogue’s latest beer – White Whale Ale.

White Whale Ale is infused, literally, with the spirit of the book “Moby Dick.” Michael and Emily Powell took pages from a copy of the book and, along with Rogue brewmaster, John Maier, added them to the brewing kettle at Rogue. “Moby Dick” has special meaning to Michael Powell, who was inspired to become a bookseller when he found a first edition of the novel in a box of books he’d purchased.

White Whale Ale was brewed in honor of Powell’s Books 41st Anniversary. Powell’s is the one of the world’s best known independent bookstores. Its flagship store in downtown Portland, Oregon, covers an entire city block and contains more than one million new and used books.

Goose Island Beer Company founder John Hall will step down as chief executive officer at the end of the year. Hall started Goose Island as a brewpub in 1988 and it grew into a top-producing brewery. He will continue to own two Goose Island brewpubs in Chicago.

Hall sold the company to Anheuser-Busch InBev in 2011. Andy Goeler, who has been with A-B for 30 years, will take over as Goose Island CEO. Goeler recently has been in charge of the fast-growing Shock Top brand.

Anheuser-Busch has significantly expanded Goose Island distribution in the last 18 months, producing much of popular beers at A-B breweries in other states. Goose Island used the space this freed up to make more of high-end beers such as Bourbon County Stout and Matilda. According to the Chicago Tribune:

. . . in a phone conversation Friday, Goeler made clear that his focus is expanding Goose Island nationally with four core beers – 312 Urban Wheat Ale, Honker’s Ale, India Pale Ale and a rotating seasonal (Mild Winter, Summertime or Fall Harvest), all of which will largely be brewed at AB plants in Baldwinsville, N.Y. and Ft. Collins, Colo. Starting next week, Goose Island beer will be distributed in all 50 states, making it one of the few craft brands with a true national footprint.

The Tribune also reported, the brewpubs will “maintain their relationships with the AB-owned Goose. Goose will not only continue to produce high-end beers, Goeler said, their output will be expanded with (still more) space for barrel aging. And . . .

(Goeler) said staying true to the company’s history is vital to its expansion, and the fact that the company will continue to be run from Chicago, rather than St. Louis, seems to lend the thought credence.

“The roots of Chicago, to me, are so critical to the long term health off the brand across the country,” Goeler said. “If you lose that connection, you’ve lost the brand.”

Hall will join an “Anheuser-Busch Craft Advisory Board” that will help guide the brand.