One of the most pleasant outcomes of the rise of craft beer is the revival of long-forgotten styles. Last year, at Gordon Biersch’s Rockville, MD location, brewer Kevin Blodger made gose, a tangy, refreshing German-style sour wheat ale, brewed with coriander and salt. Blodger has since moved on to open Union Brewing in Baltimore, where his award-winning gose, now named “Old Pro,” will be on the menu. Flying Dog recently brewed one with Old Bay seasoning. Meanwhile, Widmer has brewed a marionberry (go ahead, make a joke) hibiscus gose that is available in the DC metro area, both in bottles and on tap.
DC Brau and Bluejacket are collaborating on an even more obscure style: grätzer. A hoppy smoked wheat ale native to Grätz, in what was once Prussia, but is now Grodzisk, Poland, this style is functionally extinct in the wild, like a Dama gazelle. If you attended SAVOR in 2011, you may have gotten a taste of something like a grätzer from Bayou Teche Brewing’s “Bouncanee,” a smoked wheat ale, and Choc Brewing in Oklahoma has gone to great lengths (Weyermann smoked malt, yeast from a Polish homebrewer, and water replication) to brew a traditional version. Two of DC’s finest will take a crack at continuing to revive this style, calling it “The Embers of the Deceased.” At just 4% ABV, it joins Ground Wolf and Your Favorite Foreign Movie as sessionable offerings brewed at DC Brau.
Bluejacket’s Megan Parisi and Brau’s Jeff Hancock collaborated on the recipe for the grätzer, using Weyermann smoked malt, Tettnanger and Hersbrucker hops, and an American ale yeast strain, fermenting at low temperatures according to DC Brau’s Chris Graham. It will be released on August 17th, at 6pm at Churchkey, with a slew of other DC Brau offerings, some of which are rare. Be on the lookout for a light, refreshing beer that smells smokier than it tastes, and pairs well with anything grilled.
The List:
Bluejacket & DC Brau “Embers of the Deceased” Asche des Verstrobenen (Draft & Cask)
DC Brau Sour Barrel Aged Burial at Sea (Draft)
DC Brau Oak Aged Hell’s Bottom (Draft)
DC Brau Hell’s Bottom (Draft)
DC Brau Oak Aged The Stone of Arbroath (Draft)
DC Brau The Stone of Arbroath (Draft)
DC Brau Penn Quarter Porter (Draft)
DC Brau Your Favorite Foreign Movie (Draft)
DC Brau Ground Wolf (Draft)
DC Brau The Public (Draft)
DC Brau The Citizen (Draft)
DC Brau The Corruption (Draft)
4 DC Brau Casks (Styles TBD!)
There is no admission or charge for this event. All beers will be priced individually and in 4oz tasters
