Seasonal Beers On Tap Now
You want an IPA, you’ve got one, but with a twist. “Spring Training” breezes in like a breath of fresh air, ready to awaken your senses from a long, cold winter. Crafted from primarily Canadian pale malts, the recipe also incorporates Belgian carapils and wheat malts to contribute to the beer’s complex body and straw-golden color. Ahtanum and Palisades hops, both relative newcomers on the hop varietal scene, were chosen for their essence of wildflowers and freshly-cut grass, evocative of springtime breezes.This is in contrast to the piney, earthy and resiny characteristics of most IPAs. But don’t worry that these “pretty” hops won’t deliver a strong punch-in addition to extensive kettle hopping the beer is dry-hopped with even more Ahtanums to satisfy your hop-craving.
OG: 1.058 FG: 1.010 ABV: 6.3%
Brewed annually to massive proportions, our Winter barleywine is crafted from U.S. and Scottish malts and six hop varietals, plus a touch of local honey. 50% of this strong beer was then aged in a quartet of Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels in the now infamous CBC Barrel Cellar while the remainder saw only stainless steel. A final blend of the two yields this year’s expression of Blunderbuss. Alcohol’s fruity esters, then notes of rich caramel and sweet malt greet the nose and palate, followed by burnt sugar and toffee, vanilla, and spicy hops, and a lingering finish of spirit and oak.
OG: 1.110 FG: 1.025 ABV: 11.0%
Reckoning, or dead reckoning, is the process of estimating one's current position based upon a previously determined position, and advancing that position based upon known or estimated speeds over elapsed time, and course. It’s also the name of the Grateful Dead’s live album from the Warfield Theater run in 1981, a series of shows from which Phil ‘Brewdaddy’ Bannatyne was ejected personally by Bill Graham himself.
Reckoning also applies to CBC’s current position, as we celebrate our 20th anniversary – looking back on our path to this point, and plotting our course ahead into the future.
Reckoning, the beer, is a first for us, representing the first time we’ve brewed a beer with 100% Brettanomyces (Brett). Primary fermentation was in stainless, and it was then sent to the Barrel Cellar into five pinot noir barrels to finish fermentation and conditioning. Four months later this beer has emerged, full of fruit and funk.
Unfiltered, it presents a very cloudy mien and offers aromas of tropical fruit with a hint of fresh hay. On the palate, the grassy notes become much more earthy with hints of horse blanket and barnyard (in a good way. Trust me.) commingling with the fruity, high end of yeast character.
This funky brew references our history of pushing the boundaries of beer, from Belgians to Barrel Cellars,and from our traditional friend Saccharomyces to our unicellular brothers in weirdness like Lactobacillus, Pediococcus, and Brett.
We hope you enjoy it, and look forward as we do to twenty more years of great beer and good times.
OG:1.072 FG:1.006 ABV:8.6%
When we brewed Benevolence the first time, nearly ten years ago, we were treading some seriously untrodden ground with an altogether new and unique beer, and we caused quite a stir. Since then the craft beer-loving public has become more familiar with barrel-aged beers, blended beers, sour beers, etc., and we’ve dramatically expanded our barrel cellar and our production of, shall we say, challenging beers to greater acclaim.
Of course, when we burned all production notes for this beer in a fit of artistic pique, we failed to foresee years of requests for us to do it again. Nor did we imagine how appropriate it would be to attempt to reproduce it in honor of our 20th Anniversary. With more than a little bit of nostalgia, I’ve included the original production and tasting notes for your enjoyment. Cheers! ~Will
This is certainly a strange one…
An altogether new and unique creation in the world of beer, Benevolence combines the age-old traditions of Belgian lambic blending, Flanders sour ales, wild fermentations, and barrel-aged English strong ales with new American ingenuity and a penchant for the bizarre.
A very strong wort made with 8 different malts, aged hops, Belgian candi sugar, and organic black raisins was fermented with multiple yeast strains in stainless steel, then racked into used bourbon casks. Barrel fermentation was sparked by the addition of dates, fresh sour cherries, and raw local honey, which left a dry, puckering tartness in the finish. After three years aging silently in the wood, this intentionally soured beer was blended with a young strong ale, and Benevolence was born.
Deep raisiny brown, the nose exhibits fresh dates, brown bread, oak, and subtle sherry-like oxidation. On the palate, soft carbonation, sweet raisin/fig/dates, a touch of herbal honey, oak, vanilla, and the slightest hint of maple lead to a rich but slightly tart finish with the characterof well-aged madeira wine.
OG: 1.114 FG: 1.018 ABV: 12.6%
Q: What’s cloudy, spicy, fruity but dry, with a spritzy effervessence?
A: CBC’s HefeWeizen! For the uninitiated in this intriguing
summertime seasonal offering, here’s the lowdown :
Hefe Weizen (pronounced heffeh-vite-zen) is a traditional wheat beer from Southern Germany. Its history may extend as far back as the 8th century AD, as the Weihenstephen Brewery claims brewing took place on its site in the small town of Freising, just Northeast of Munich. It was originally a Benedictine settlement in 725, and there has certainly been brewing there since 1040. Weizenbier has a truly royal heritage, as for several hundred years there existed an ordinance reserving wheat beer for the sole consumption of the royal family.
HefeWeizen is above all an excellent summer drink, as its refreshing, crisp palate and high carbonation are exceptional on a hot, sunny day. It is brewed with as much as 50% or more malted wheat, in addition to the usual barley malt, and has a very low hopping rate. A unique, top-fermenting German ale yeast lends a fruity acidity and clove-like spiciness to the aroma and flavor, and the yeast itself, which is not filtered out before serving, contributes to its traditionally cloudy appearance. By the way, Weisse (white) and Weizen (wheat) are two interchangeable terms in regards to naming this style, and the words mit hefe (with yeast) indicate that this is an unfiltered beer.
A Note On Lemons: Lemon, or no lemon, that is the question. Brewers being brewers, we feel that our beers stand on their own, and the addition of citrus flavoring would impede our very sensitive palates’ appreciation of this superb brew. Therefore, we would rather not, personally, see wedges of lemon afloat in our glasses of weizenbier. However, many people feel that a touch of lemon complements the refreshing character of this summertime beer, so go ahead and order your Weizen mit-lemon if you like.
We won’t hate you for it.
Much ;-)
We intend to brew our HefeWeizen frequently enough to keep it available all summer long, through Labor Day, since we’re just slaves to popular demand.
OG:1.050 FG:1.008 ABV:5.5%
You must be thinking, “Ok, what the heck is CBC up to now? I can’t even pronounce half of those words!”
Now, now. Calm down and I’ll explain everything.
The spirit of collaboration is everywhere in the Craft Brewing Industry. In fact you can’t swing a cat by the tail without hitting some new beer brewed by two or more breweries together. Heck, we’re guilty as charged. The fact is, some of our best friends are brewers, and when we get together we inevitably talk about all the cool beers we could make together. Such is the case with our latest release, which was brewed in collaboration with our dear friend Anders Kissmeyer of the famed Nørrebro Bryghus brewery in Copenhagen, Denmark. Anders and I met at the Craft Brewers Conference when it was held in Philly many years ago, and in the Fall of 2007 I traveled to Denmark to brew versions of CBC’s own Cerise Cassée and Heather Ale, both of which have become regular and award-winning beers in the Nørrebro Bryghus repertoire. Anders repaid the favor by being our guest here at CBC last April, and over the months of advance planning we decided to make a very unusual and rare traditional Danish beer, a Skibsøl.
Traditional Skibsøl is a low alcohol (2.5 ABV), top fermented dark and very heavily smoked beer style that is said to have been very popular with the hard working naval crews on the Danish merchant fleet in the sailing ship era some 100 + years ago. ‘Skibsøl’ translates directly into ‘ship’s beer’. In order to further the collaborative influence, we decided to ‘Imperialize’ it to 6.3%abv, and to bottom ferment with a Danish lager yeast strain. The smoked character was created by slowly smoking, by hand, 25kg of pilsner malt over alder wood in CBC’s own house smoker (Thanks, Chef!), a process which took two full days. Anders joined the CBC Brew Crew early morning on the 17th of April, which began with the laborious hand-milling of the smoked malt followed by a very fragrant mash-in. The brewday went flawlessly! Fermentation took nearly three full weeks at 50*F and was followed by a full month of cold-conditioning (lagering) at 32*F.
The resultant mahogany brew has a very clean nose of smoke and malt, which on the palate is incredibly smooth and dry, yet quite full-flavored. Malt-forward, the smoke lingers briefly before a subtle hop finish. Imperial maybe, but still quaffable and an excellent pairing with summer’s grilled and smoked offerings, or our house charcuterie selections.
IBU: 25 OG:1.062(15.5*P) FG: 1.014(3.5*P) ABV:6.3%
This well-hopped ale is brewed from 40% malted rye, and Belgian pale and Vienna malts. An unusual brewing grain in today’s American beer culture, rye has been used for centuries in Northern European brewing tradition. It has a faintly nutty flavor, which does its best to balance the intense hop flavor of this beer. Brewed and extensively dry-hopped with Amarillo, Cascade, Columbus, Fuggles and Glacier hops, it boasts a deep golden mien, with a bit of haziness caused by the rye (much like the haze in a wheat beer). Crisp, dry, refreshing, and VERY hoppy, with a firm malty backbone to keep it all together.
OG: 1.053 FG: 1.010 ABV: 5.6%
Two questions may have already arisen as you begin this reading; first, what is an Arquebus and second, what is a “summer barleywine?”
Well, this’ll be easier than you thought, and completely painless, I promise.
An arquebus was a primitive firearm which came into use in the 15th Century, and was a predecessor to the musket and rifle. A smoothbore with a flared muzzle, similar but more refined and accurate than its predecessor the Blunderbuss (ah, there’s the thematic association, Blunderbuss being our winter barleywine…) it was capable of piercing the strong, full-plate armor worn into battle.
Ok then. What, you continue to wonder, is a “Summer Barleywine?”
Well, in our continuing quest to change the way people think about enjoying and understanding beer and beer styles, we have created a barleymalt-based interpretation of a dessert wine, meant to be sipped on those sultry summer evenings on our patio. It is also brewed with local Cambridge honey gathered from hives within five miles of our brewery by apiarists Mike Graney and Dan Geere, plus white wine grapes of the varieties Viognier and Gewurtztraminer.
Our 2009 release is at once light and drinkable yet it boasts significant body, and it is almost syrupy smooth in texture without being cloying. Arquebus’ deep golden mien contains beautiful, complex notes of peach and apricot fruit, wildflower honey, toast and coconut oakiness, and soft, tannin-hinted, white grape notes. Malolactic fermentation in the barrel adds a hint of acidity to balance the sweetness of this beer’s finish.
Aged for eighteen months in French oak chardonnay barrels acquired from the Silverado and Chateau Boswell wineries in Napa, the residual flavors contributed by the wood offer a mellowness of character not provided by stainless steel fermentation, as controlled oxidation deepens its color, enhances its rich texture, and concentrates notes of fruit.
OG: 1.100/25.0*P FG: 1.016/4.0*P ABV:11.0%