Here’s a peek behind the walls courtesy of Green Flash at the 22oz bottling of their fall seasonal St. Feuillien co-brewed Friendship Brew Black Saison. The original label is here and I suspect we’ll see this on the shelves very soon.
This from Green Flash:
(San Diego, CA – 1 Aug 2012) - Mike and Lisa Hinkley, co-founders of Green Flash Brewing Co are proud to announce the Fall 2012 seasonal introduction of Friendship Brew – the innovative new result of the San Diego craft Brewery’s 2nd collaboration with historic Belgian brewery, St. Feuillien. Brewmasters, Chuck Silva (Green Flash) and Alexis Briol (St. Feuillien) developed the recipe and test batch of Friendship Brew in May 2012 at the Green Flash Brewing Facility.
They are pleased with the results of their teamwork, and have crafted a rare Black Saison, a lively and unconventional twist on this classic Belgian farmhouse style featuring a proprietary blend of secret spices.
The ongoing partnership between these cross-continental Brewmasters has become increasingly rewarding, “The most exciting part of this collaboration is the way our friendship has developed,” proclaims Silva. “We’re very respectful, considerate and work together carefully. That’s allowed us, as international counterparts, to find common ground.” The Black Saison style was an intentionally obscure choice and an experimental endeavor for both talented Brewmasters, as they wanted to learn as much from each other as possible during the process.
Friendship Brew was brewed on the new, state-of-the-art system at Green Flash Brewing Co. in San Diego – an exciting experience for Briol, who is more accustomed to using centuries old brewing equipment and is in the process of building a new brewing facility in Belgium.
Friendship Brew will be distributed in the US nationally as a fall seasonal release beginning in September 2012. It is available in 12oz 4-packs and 22oz bottles.
Friendship
Brew Beer Details:
Friendship Brew is a Black Saison brewed with a blend of European Styrian Golding and American Cascade hops and features subtle spices enhanced by fruity esters and a roasted malt base akin to oatmeal stout. As is customary with all Saison Ales crafted by St Feuillien, the spices used for the Green Flash collaboration ale are kept a closely guarded secret. Bottle conditioning provides lively carbonation and super-rich beer foam for a luscious body with a lean dry finish. It is 5.7% ABV, 32 IBUs.
How The Friendship Started:
Dominique Friart, CEO of St. Feuillien, visited Green Flash Brewing Co on a 2009 trip to the United States and was warmly welcomed by co-owners, Mike and Lisa Hinkley. Green Flash had a history of collaborating with several US breweries to create specialty beers, so Mike was very excited to suggest the cross continental collaboration to Friart. While exploring the Green Flash facility and tasting the impressive lineup of craft beers, Friart became increasingly intrigued by the San Diego brewery’s particular approach to brewing Belgian style beers, taking particular note of the San Diego brewery’s reverent appreciation for Belgian tradition. After they got to know each other, the CEOs set a date to brew their first beer together.
The initial Green Flash collaboration with St Feuillien took place in March 2010 at St Feuillien landmark Belgian brew-house. At the time, it was the first beer brewed as an alliance between two American and Belgian family-owned breweries. When entering into the process of collaboration the Brewmasters set out to create a brew that would converge five generations of the Friart Family’s traditional Belgian ales with the cutting edge brewing techniques and the distinctive style synonymous with all Green Flash beers. In 2010, Silva noted, “Brewing with Alexis at St. Feuillien was a great honor, lots of fun, and I think we created a fantastic brew. This is a convergence of great Belgian tradition and Green Flash innovation.”
The 2010 result - Bière De L’Amitié, (i.e. ‘Friendship Brew’), was released in limited quantities in the United States in June 2010. Bière De L’Amitié is a Blond Belgian Strong Ale, brewed with St. Feuillien’s traditional yeast and secret spices. Green Flash imparted a modern twist by adding rye and wheat malts to the mash and American Amarillo hops to the recipe. The beer was dry-hopped with Amarillo for even more hop-flavor, aroma and zest. It is currently distributed internationally by St. Feuillien.
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