DuClaw Brewing Company

This Wednesday begins the COLOSSUS WORLD TOUR.  We have only 12 kegs of Colossus left. They are spoken for by twelve different restaurants/bars through out the State of Maryland (hey, it’s our world!) and will be going on tap at twelve different dates though this month and next.  This list, as it stands today, is below:

• Max’s Taphouse (Baltimore, MD): Wed. 6/22 @ 5pm
• Frisco Taphouse (Columbia, MD): Thurs. 6/23 @ 7pm
• Alewife (Baltimore, MD): Fri. 6/24 @ 5pm
• Alonso’s (Baltimore, MD): Mon. 6/27 @ 6pm
• JD’s Smokehouse (Baltimore, MD): Wed 6/29 @ 6pm
• Racers’ Cafe (Balt. Co. MD): Thurs 6/30 @ 6pm
• Firestone’s (Frederick, MD): TBD
• Mahaffey’s (Baltimore, MD): Tues. 7/5@ 6pm
• Judge’s Bench (Ellicott City, MD): Fri. 7/8 @ 5pm
• T-Bonz (Ellicott City, MD): Sun. 7/10 @ 10AM (Pints & Pancakes)
• Mt Airy Inn (Mt. Air, MD): Wed 7/13 @ 6pm
• The Falls of Mt. Washington (Baltimore, MD): Thursday 7/14 @ 6pm **UPDATED**

The first time you show up to one of these, on the date listed, we will give you a ‘Passport’. For each event you attend, you will get a stamp on your passport. The top 5 people (or so..) with the most stamps*, will receive a ‘I survived the Colossus World Tour’ T-shirt. More details will be in a email we will be sending either today or tomorrow. If you are not on our email list, this is your time to sign up (plus all the other free stuff we give away!)

So get to these events, cause when Colossus ends at these places…it ENDS.

Cheers,

Dave

* God help the person that attends all of them.

Well, our release of Colossus 2010 is officially in the books.  Because we kept the release so ‘secret’, there are a lot of questions surrounding Colossus that needs to be answered.

1) This is our 2nd batch of Colossus. The first batch brewed in 2006, was initially released in litre bottles. Then last year we released the remaining beer from that batch in 22oz bottles. So those bombers last year, were already aged 4+ years.

2) The alcohol is not higher this year than before. It is the same as the previous batch, 21%.

3) The beer was brewed in early November of 2010, and sat in the fermenters for 4+ months. It’s primary fermentation was almost 4 weeks long. Just to give you a reference, most beers have a primary fermentation of a week and have a total time in the tanks of 30 days +/- .

4) Due to the long time in the tanks, and higher production requirements we are seeing, we won’t be able to brew Colossus again until we get a new, bigger facility.  We are working on that as I type..

5) 22oz bottles will be shipping to retailers next week.  The price is set by the retailers, but expect it to be a few dollars higher this year per bottle.

6) Starting Wednesday the 22nd, we are launching the Colossus World Tour.  If you want to know details, stay tuned to this blog. Better yet, subscribe!

Finally, we came across this blog post about Colossus and high gravity beers from Keith at A History of Drinking. I believe he does an excellent job, not only of describing Colossus, but high alcohol beers in general.

And remember..Drink Colossus slowly, it doesn’t want to carry you home.

Cheers!

Dave

ps – If you missed the release video catch it here

Well, it is almost here.  This Wednesday, everyone will get to find out what our ‘secret’ beer is.  This I can tell you, it has never been on draft before.

And I can also tell you this:  You won’t see this beer for another two years.  Why, you ask? Production capacity has been hit.  We simply do not have the tanks available to make it after this.  That is, until we get a bigger facility….

Cheers,

Dave

Thank you to all that have submitted requests for the cause of our H.E.R.O. beer!!  We are going through them, and already we see a monumental task ahead of us.  Please keep them coming, and remember this is just part 1 of helping.  Soon, we will be calling on you to be a hero along side of us.  Thanks again..

Cheers,

Dave

So today is the day X-5 hits our taps.  Officially, it is an Imperial Rice Ale brewed with a judicious amount of Sorachi Ace hops.  Though it has a ton of hops, it is not bitter.  Instead, the Sorachi Ace lends a lemon-grass aroma and flavor to the beer. Link here with some wiki info.

X-5 was brewed this with a good bit of rice (but there is still barley in there, for the gluten-free crowd to be aware of), so as to let the hop dominate this beer. And the combination makes it one drinkable beer!

Due to production capacity issues, we could only do a small batch, not leaving us with a lot of X-5.  So, you better try it quick before it is gone.

Oh, and did I mention it weighs in at 7.2% alcohol by volume…

Well, back to enjoying X-5!

Cheers!

Dave

ps – don’t forget June 15th release, YOU WILL NOT WANT TO MISS IT!

Today is the big day!  For it is the day we announce the winner of our H.E.R.O. homebrew contest.  But before we jump into that, I would like to go over what H.E.R.O. is about.

For us, H.E.R.O. is about making a difference and a statement.  We were not only looking for an interesting beer, but looking to make a difference in our community.  With the sale of H.E.R.O., we are giving away every single penny we collect. Not our profit, all of our revenue from H.E.R.O., all of it. We want to make a difference, and we are looking for help.  First, we want to hear from you about causes that need help. So, if you know a good cause, please email (hero@duclaw.com) with their story. Secondly, we are issuing a challenge. A challenge for you, and others, to join us in our quest to help.

So, now on to the announcement of the WINNER!  Our three finalist are:

3rd Place – Michael Roberts & Mitch Eyster , Belgian IPA

2nd Place – Joe Federico, Jalapeno Beerito

1st Place – Tony Huckstein, Peanut Butter Porter

All three beers were excellent, and the judges were presented with a very tough decision. But, in the end the decision was for the Peanut Butter Porter by Tony.  A unique and creative brew, and extremely drinkable and tasty.  Jim and the boys are pumped to get this beer into the tanks and out to our fans.  We are working on a date to get Tony out to help us brew this tremendous beer and plan to release it on August 25th in draft and 22oz bottles (plus we might have a few other surprises up our sleeve..)

I would like to thank all who entered.  We had a great time trying the beers and seeing what people came up with.  There were some fine, tasty brews, and a very tough match up at the end. We are sure you will love the result.

I will be posting more about H.E.R.O. later this week, both tasting notes on the top three and our challenge to you to be a HERO.  So stay tuned.

Cheers!

Dave

<small correction on Joe’s name.  Sorry about that!>

Our H.E.R.O. home brewing competition has come to an end. An overwhelming number of entries were received, a winner was chosen (the top three finishers will be announced Monday May 30th) and his/her beer will be produced by our brewery as a limited run of 22oz bottles.  The winner will first be announced here on my blog, then we will send an email out.  So, pay attention folks.

While this project is a great platform for aspiring brewers to earn recognition for their craftsmanship, it’s also an incredible opportunity for us to give back. And that’s why we are donating not a portion, not half, but EVERY SINGLE PENNY from the sale of H.E.R.O. 22oz bombers to charity. Sales are expected to reach $25,000 or higher, and we’re giving it all away.  That is right, every last penny.

But to who? That’s where all of you come in. You get to help choose the beneficiary. We ask that you email us (hero@duclaw.com) the story of an organization or individual that you believe is in need of a hero.  This does not have to be a charitable organization, it can be an individual or a family.  We have some ideas of our own, but we want your suggestions for where we can make the most impact. We brewed this beer so that we could give back by helping where help was needed the most. Now it’s your turn. And all you have to do is point us in the right direction. All the details will be in the post and email on Monday.

“To be a hero is to live your life in a small cell whose bars are the principles and rules that define what you will and won’t accept. The misfortune, suffering, or hopelessness of those you call friends, neighbors, or your community.  If I am privileged enough to live in that cell, to serve in that box with the word HERO written on it…then I say to you, from somewhere deep inside that box, what are you doing out there?”

A couple of days ago we shipped our Naked Fish 22oz bottles to our Maryland distributor. And next week, they will be heading to our Virginia distributor. That is right, this little brewery from Bel Air is selling beer in Virginia, but that is not what this blog post is about.

For those of you who don’t know, Naked Fish is a chocolate raspberry stout.  We make it with chocolate raspberry coffee in the mash, which is a pretty cool way to get a fruit and chocolate flavor.  Naked Fish has been in our lineup for years; usually released in February for Valentine’s Day.  Last year, we didn’t brew it. Wow, did we make a mistake. People really missed it. Enough so that we not only brewed it this year, but we bottled it. But that is not really even the point of this post.

Back in 1998, I had just recently let go my brewmaster and I had my roommate from college (Marc Tewey of Brimstone fame) brewing for me temporarily. We had sponsored a homebrew contest, and I was planning on meeting with the winner to discuss his beer that won.  Marc knew the winner and told him to bring some other samples in of his beer for me to try. The homebrew winner brought 3 different samples. All were very, very good.  But, one was a Chocolate Raspberry Porter, that was just delicious. When I asked him what type of chocolate did he use to create the flavor, he floored me with “No chocolate, no raspberry. It’s all from the coffee that I use in the brew.”

Well, if you haven’t guessed it, the winner of the contest was Jim Wagner (our brewmaster). Twenty minutes after the conversations started, I offered him the job as brewmaster. And as the say, the rest was history…..

Hello All!  This Wednesday we will release a brand new beer for us.  This beer ushers in a new style for us called an American Black Ale, or ABA for short (we will get to what an ABA is shortly).  And our imagineers have affectionately named the beer….

What is an American Black Ale? It’s sort of like a cross between Venom (our American Pale Ale) and Bad Moon (or Robust Porter)…only not at all. ABA is black as night with a distinctly American flavor profile that aims to strike a perfect balance between roasted malt and aggressive hop character. In short, American Black Ale is far more than a hybrid of other styles, it is a unique beer drinking experience unto itself.

And that is why the original names floated for the style, India Black Ale, Black Pale Ale and Cascadian Dark Ale, didn’t stick. Without getting into an IPA history lesson, ABA has little in common with IPA outside of hop character, so India Black Ale didn’t make sense. As for Cascadian Dark Ale, while the official American Brewers Association style guidelines for American Black Ale call for American hops, they definitely don’t narrow the requirement to Cascade, meaning the crazy secessionist hippies in Oregon weren’t getting anywhere with the CDA moniker, either. And Black Pale Ale? Really? That’s just lazy.

So, why did we jump into this new style when the ink was barely dry on the style guidelines and brew Black Lightning? Simple, ABAs are freaking awesome! A blend of hops and roasted malt flavor, above average alcohol content – what’s not to love? We sampled some very good versions of the style, but thought that we might be able to do it better. We wanted the challenge of balancing the disparate flavors of roasted malt and hops without losing either in the mix. We wanted to help define a style that we believed in strongly. We wanted a new beer to drink. And, well, we already printed the t-shirts :).

Thanks for reading. Now log-off, mark your calendars and come join us on Wednesday (I will be at Bel Air); cause…

Cheers!

Dave

If you check the link, you will find our 2011 beer release schedule.  Some will be happy with some old favorites coming back (Naked Fish, Mayhem and Twisted Kilt), and some will be disappointed with a few missing.  But, I am sure all will be happy with all the new beers to be released this year.  Wait, I didn’t see them on the list! Did we forget to post those? Guess you will have to wait and see when they will happen. But, I promise you are going to love them….all you need is patience.

Cheers!

Dave

ps – Where in the heck did Sawtooth go?  How could we take that one off the schedule?