Steve Koenemann

A Brewer’s Best

Like many of you, keeping up with the deluge of e-mails, RSS feed articles, Facebook pages or people, tweets and the like can be pretty overwhelming at times. I sort through hundreds and hundreds of them each week and that does not even begin to include what I see at work during the same period of time. Some of this, of course, I bring upon myself through my insistence on subscribing to as many beer-related sites, pages and newsletters as possible in order to keep my pulse on this beloved industry and I must admit that it is a “burden” that I will continue to willingly bear!

Earlier this week I received a “Friend of Harpoon” newsletter, which is distributed by the folks at Harpoon Brewery.  “Friend of Harpoon” is a fan club of sorts for people who enjoy Harpoon’s fine selection of beers; which I definitely do. As a club member, you are entitled to the newsletter, of course, which contains a listing of upcoming Harpoon events and special news about just about everything else Harpoon-related. They even issue a membership card to their “Friends”, which can be used to collect member-only discounts at events and at the Harpoon company stores… but I digress. This particular edition of the newsletter also contained an announcement of the 35^th beer to be released in Harpoon’s “100 Barrel Series” of beers; a rebrew/reformulation of a previously released beer, called Catamount Maple Wheat, which was also #26 in the series.

My interest in this beer was not so much its imminent release (early February), though I did like it the first time they produced it, but it really got me to thinking about other brewers that have their own special series of beers that they distribute only seasonally, at odd times (when the whim strikes them) or on an annual schedule. As I poked around on Ratebeer, I first discovered that there are, in fact, quite a number of brewers that do this and, secondly, some the beers in these “brewer’s best” series of beers are some of my favorite beers from those brewers.

Harpoon is an excellent example of a brewer that plays this “game”.  Not only do they have their “100 Barrel Series” of special beers, they also offer a “Leviathan” series of big or higher ABV beers. As I mentioned above, the 100 Barrel Series is up to its 35^th beer. This series has seen a diverse selection of beer types and tastes over the years. Everything from barleywines to wet hops to Belgians and Saisons to real oyster stouts… a virtual smörgåsbord of many different beers that is sure to please any beer drinker at one time of another (or fairly constantly, like me). These are quite limited release beers that have been, at times, hard to find if you are not paying attention. I am sorry to say that I have not have the pleasure to taste all 35 of these beers, but the dozen or so that I have were all quite good.

Harpoon’s other “series” is called Leviathan and for good reason; these beers are all at least 9% ABV (topping out at about 12%) and all quite good. There are currently 8 beers in this series and I am happy to say that I have tried (and liked) all of them. Beer types in this series have ranged from barleywine to Belgian to wheat (Triticus)… not nearly as big a variety as the 100 Barrel Series, but every bit as good and worth seeking out when they are available.

I can’t possibly list all the brewers that I found that have these series of beer releases and, after my brief survey on Ratebeer, I am fairly certain that I only found a small fraction of the ones that do. Attempting to list even the ones that I found wouldn’t possibly do each of them justice in terms of the qualities and benefits that each of their beers bring to the craft beer marketplace. However, I have decided to list below a very small selection of some, just to give you a flavor of the variety of ways which brewers are participating in these “series”.

• Long Trail Brewery – Long Trail offers their “Brewmaster” series of beers. Currently there are five beers in this series of various types and styles.  Their site does not list a particular schedule for their release, so one could assume that they are released on a “whim”.
• Otter Creek Brewing – Otter Creek offers an “Imperial” series of beers; I believe that there are about five so far (a bit hard to identify from their names) and all quite enjoyable. Otter Creek also produces Wolavers Organic beers, which could (I guess) be called another “series” and there are 14 different types of this brand offered as well.
• Dogfish Head Brewery – Dogfish Head does not refer to their special beers as a “series”, but they do maintain a definite production schedule (as known as “Thee Schedule”) of when these beers are due to become available. These beers fall into categories… “Seasonals” (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter), “Strong Fruit”, “Agables” (barleywines, stouts and IPAs) and “Ancients”. Known for their big beers as well as for their use of unusual ingredients and recipes, I can’t imagine this long distribution list not containing something that would appeal to most beer drinkers.
• The Lost Abbey – This fine brewer runs two separate series of beers throughout the year; their “Seasonals” and their “Non-Denominationals”. Both series contain a variety of different beer either timed to release relative to a particular time of year or holiday (Seasonals) or on a loose schedule throughout the year (Non-Denominationals). I am truly hoping that beer from this brewer becomes available in Vermont soon!

That is just a very small sampling of the brewers that offer one or more special series of beers or schedule times for their releases during the year. I do have to admit that this type of an approach appeals to me. I follow a number of these scheduled beer releases from quite a few brewers and I definitely look forward to particular times of the year when some of my favorite beers are due to become available. I am sure that some (most?) of you must follow at least one brewer that produces a “series” and I think that you would be well-served to seek out more of them. In many cases these brewers are offering you a bit more than something different and special at a particular time of the year; they are very often offering you their brewer’s best.

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