So congratulations to Chris, because what he's doing is cool, and he's being very cool about it -- just read the blog sometime -- and the write-up of his inclusion definitely gets it:
Low-alcohol, "sessionable" [there's That Word again...] beers may have everyone in the craft beer community buzzing right now, but back when Lohring started Notch Brewing that was certainly not the case. Frustrated by the oversaturation of high-alcohol craft beers on the market at the time, he went against the grain, developing a balanced, flavorful line of brews that check in at less than 4.5 percent alcohol by volume. An ahead-of-his-time guy who strove to make a better-tasting beer that you can drink more of without getting sloppy drunk? Definitely cool.Chris: gonna steal some of your cool here. Not for myself, not for the SBP at all...but it would appear that if Chris and Notch are cool...session beer is cool.
Damn right it is! Keep it coming, people: ask your local bar to carry some good craft beer under 4.5%, ask your local brewpub to make one, and then drink them! If you don't ask, it may not happen...unless someone as cool as Chris Lohring comes along.
Is Chris involved in the actual brewing himself? If so, he's a "gypsy brewer" not a contract brewer. Sounds fancier.
ReplyDeleteHe brews at Mercury, not all over, and he brews with them, not all by himself. I don't know that we need MORE terms in this, eh? We certainly don't need 'fancy!'
ReplyDeleteFair enough. I just consider "contract brewed" means that they give a recipe, if that, to someone that then brews it for them. I may be wrong in that definition though.
ReplyDeleteEven though Chris doesn't own anything, it's good that he's directly involved in the brewing and I think that's important.
Hey Lew, thanks again. If session beer is cool, well, there is hope for us all. Just had the Notch 2 year party in Cambridge, and my wife commented that it is was the best looking crowd she's ever seen at a beer event, except for my unshaven self, of course. Not sure what that means, but session beer seems to be attracting a wide crowd.
ReplyDeleteThe contract label is dying, as there are too many hybrid arrangements now. Like myself, who was a production brewer and went to brewing school, but now brews with the guys at Mercury, or solo at some other breweries, to make Notch a reality. In the end, the consumer doesn't need to know if I did the CIP at the end of the brew (and god knows I do not want to), they only care that the beer is good, and that my involvement is real, and not fabricated.