OnTap Magazine

SEEKING OUT THE LATEST BEER TRENDS AT THE GREAT AMERICAN BEER FESTIVAL LOTTE PEPLOW American craft brewers love to push the envelope with e x p e r i me n t a l and adventurous b e e r s , b u t proven technical excellence was very much on show at GABF, with classic lager styles brewed to perfection. Just such an example was Left Hand’s Travelin’ Light Kölsch, a classic iteration of the German ‘hybrid’ style that was golden, crisp, dry and refreshing. Sessionable American craft beer styles account for 26% of the growth in craft sales value, according to the Brewers Association, and many American craft brewers now have the con dence and facilities to brew perfectly crafted, clinically clean, refreshing and crisp helles, Pilsners, Kölsch, altbiers, festbiers, dunkels and many more. ese styles appeal to young drinkers coming into the craft beer category for the rst time as well as those older drinkers who entered the craft beer world at its inception, some 30-40 years ago, and are now looking for something more sessionable. The IPA, and its many iterations, still reigns supreme and accounts for 36.8% of dollar sales and 77% of craft growth according to the Brewers Association. New England – or to give the style its proper name, juicy or hazy – IPA, the latest darling of the craft beer world, remains on its upward trajectory and was judged for the rst time at the GABF competition this year. Juicy IPAs attracted the most category entrants of all with 391 (overtaking American-style IPA, which had held the mantle for over a decade) and was won not by a New England beer but one from Chicago – Le Jus fromAlarmist Brewing. Alsomaking a small splash at this year’s festival were Brut IPAs: bone-dry, pale in colour and highly e ervescent. Sour beers brewed with fruit are commonplace, but vegetable and savoury sours are a whole new ball game. One of the hottest beers of the Festival was a Spaghetti Gose from Weldwerks Brewing Co. Brewed with roasted tomatoes, fresh basil, oregano, sea salt and spaghetti, it tasted just like a plateful of pasta smothered in tomato sauce. Also on point was Ska Pink Vapour Stew, a delicious medley of citrus, sour and tart avours blended together with beets, carrots, ginger and apples. Other beers featured cucumber, kale, mint, rosemary, jalapeno peppers and shiitake mushrooms to name but a few. Are these styles likely to become a mass-market trend? Probably not, but they demonstrate the ground-breaking creativity of American craft brewers. The barrel- aging game was ramped u p s e v e r a l notches by the addition of the new Jameson C a s k m a t e s barrel-aged beer garden at GABF, where all beers were barrel-aged in Jameson Irish whiskey barrels. Cigar City Beoir Le Caife, a brown ale brewed with lactose and co ee then aged in Jameson whiskey barrels, blew my mind with its smooth, rich, chocolate and co ee character. Elsewhere at the festival, beers aged in oak barrels or those previously holding wine, gin, tequila, brandy, bourbon and more were pouring. Not all were knock- your-socks-o imperial stouts over 12% ABV, although there were plenty of those up for grabs. Some of the more nuanced and elegant barrel-aged beers were sour beers with added fruit. N U M B E R 01 LAGER & SESSIONABLE STYLES I n a vast, cavernous convention centre the size of eight football pitches, the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is a mind- blowing and overwhelming experience. Organised by the Brewers Association, the epic event takes place each September in Denver, Colorado. This year’s festival saw 62,000 visitors arriving to sample beers from some 800 breweries. Tasting some of the 4,000 di erent beers on show is of course the main attraction of the three-day festival, but GABF is also a prime place to identify new trends in beer. Here are six of the best hot new takes from this year’s festival. N U M B E R 02 BARREL„AGED BEERS N U M B E R 03 IPAs N U M B E R 04 VEGETABLE SOURS N U M B E R 05 GRAPE & GRAIN N U M B E R 06 BOTANICALS & OTHER BITS Whether this is a trend or a gimmick remains to be seen, but the use of wine yeast, wine barrels and wine ingredients served to blur the lines between grape and grain. For example, Oskar Blues Guns n Rosé is a pale ale brewed with hibiscus and prickly pear and based on the avour pro les of rosé wine. Other brewers are brewing beer- wine hybrids or relying on wine barrels to inoculate their beers with grapey avours. As one brewer put it: “we take the re nement out of the barrel and add the funk from the farm!” Spices, herbs, tree sap, spruce tips, pine needles, coconut, key lime pie, peanut butter are all fair game for American b rewe r s who like to experiment with just about anything, edible or otherwise! While still in evidence, the co ee beer trend was less obvious than in previous years although chai, latte, tea and vanilla in uenced beers were present. South Africa’s craft beer industry is of course still in its infancy, but we are already seeing some of these trends emerging here. Hopefully in 2019 there will be more bruts, botanicals and barrel-aged brews pouring from South African taps. SIX FTHE BEST EVENT RECAP 10 | Summer 2018 | ontapmag.co.za