From Stone:
A 2013 Stone Collaboration Special Release
Pour yourself a cup of Joe and sit a spell as we share with you the tale of a most uncommon India pale ale. Our story begins amid the howl of the Windy City at a homebrewing competition dubbed Iron Brew, which was built to showcase Chicagoland's burgeoning sect of fermentation craftsmen. Such was the quality of this homespun libation melee that it drew a most illustrious panel of judges—acclaimed author and beer evaluator Randy Mosher, co-founder and brewer Jim Ebel of Chicago's Two Brothers Brewing Company, and our own co-founder and CEO, Greg Koch. Together, the trio sipped, swished and swallowed their way to determining a hands-down winner. That beer, a style-bending take on the time-tested IPA, was brewed by a trio of aspiring artisans going by the collective moniker, "Aleman." The nom de guerre for this sudsy concoction? Dayman.
ESCONDIDO, CA (March 14, 2013/mbb/) – On March 18, Stone Brewing Co. will release its first collaboration beer of 2013: Aleman/Two Brothers/Stone DayMan Coffee IPA. Conceptualized by Jim Moorehouse, Brad Zeller, and Nate Albrecht of Aleman, the recipe formulation and brewing also featured collaborators Greg Koch and Mitch Steele of Stone, as well as Jason and Jim Ebel, co-founders of Chicago's Two Brothers Brewing Company. The resulting beer marries the unique fruity botanical taste of a hoppy IPA, with the roasted flavor and aroma of freshly brewed coffee.
DayMan was the winning beer at Iron Brew held last August in Chicago, as decided by judges Stone CEO and co-founder Greg Koch, author and beer expert Randy Mosher, and Two Brothers co-founder Jason Ebel. Chicago chef, Won Kim, and Stone Illinois Regional Brewery Representative Aaron Tyrell organized the competition to highlight the exciting and creative homebrewing talent being fostered in the Windy City. Aleman, a trio of homebrewers who are in the process of opening a Chicago brewpub, entered DayMan in the competition, vying for the opportunity to brew the beer at Stone and have it bottled and distributed in 21 states.
According to the judging panel, Aleman’s IPA was the clear winner because of its innovation and intriguing flavor combinations. When asked how a coffee IPA stood out despite a highly competitive field of entrants, Jason Ebel said, “The big thing was that when you think of coffee beer, you think of dark beer. The light color and hoppy flavor intrigued us – it was very exciting to see something different.”
From the start, Aleman’s inspiration was to make a beer that was not an everyday style. “Hops and coffee can play the same role in beer. They add bitterness. We’d sampled one other coffee IPA, but it wasn’t what we wanted out of a beer like that. What we were looking to create was something light, refreshing and crisp—the perfect brunch beer,” said Jim Moorehouse of Aleman.
To achieve the perfect flavor combination, they used a lightly roasted yet immensely flavorful blend of coffee. “Aleman wanted a lighter roast, so we knew our Two Brothers Coffee Roasters Brew House Blend of Ethiopian, Guatemalan and Sumatran coffee would work best,” said Jason Ebel. “The coffee is roasted lighter and we get deep stone fruit and a nutty character from the beans. The latter brings on subtle coffee flavors while the former works well with the hops.”
The brewers who collaborated to create Aleman/Two Brothers/Stone DayMan Coffee IPA will participate in both pre- and public release celebrations in the Chicagoland area:
March 17 from 1 to 5 p.m.
Two Brothers Brewery Tap Room – 30W315 Calumet Avenue, Warrenville, IL 60555
Jason and Jim Ebel, Greg Koch, Two Brothers Coffee Roasters’ Master Coffee Roaster Mason Brown, and the brewers of Aleman will participate in a bottle signing event. Guests will have the opportunity to try the beer before it’s released nationally.
March 18 from 6 to 8 p.m.
Hopleaf Bar – 5148 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60640
Jason and Jim Ebel, Greg Koch, Two Brothers Coffee Roasters’ Master Coffee Roaster Mason Brown, and the Aleman brewers will celebrate the national release of the beer. Aleman/Two Brothers/Stone DayMan Coffee IPA and Stone Brewing Co. year-round release beers will be on tap.
Name: Aleman/Two Brothers/Stone DayMan Coffee IPA
URL: http://www.stonebrewing.com/collab/
Stats: 8.7% ABV, 42 IBUs
Availability: Limited 22-ounce bottles and draft, beginning March 18
Hops bill: Cascade and Citra
Distribution: AZ, CA, CO, FL, IL, IN, MD, MA, MO, NC, NM, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, SC, TX, VA, VT, and WA
Tasting notes, provided by Brewmaster Mitch Steele
Appearance: Clear amber with a tan head.
Aroma: It’s difficult to discern which aroma hits first—the wonderful, citrusy tropical fruitiness of the Citra hops or the deep-roasted elegance of the coffee roasted especially for this brew.
Taste: The taste of this beer follows right along with the aromatics. Roasted coffee and citrusy hops play well together as the beer flows across the palate along with hints of toasted malt and a wonderful lingering bitterness.
Palate: Dry with a nice lingering bitterness. The coffee flavors hang on pleasantly after the hop bitterness recedes.
Overall: The Aleman guys developed a wonderful IPA recipe. The addition of coffee brings wonderful layers of totally unexpected roast components that make this beer truly unique. I’ve never had anything like it and I look forward to enjoying it. It’s been a pleasure to put this brew together with Aleman and Two Brothers.
Suggested food pairings, provided by “Dr.” Bill Sysak
Appetizers: Stuffed portobello mushrooms with blue cheese, pancetta-wrapped shrimp, carne asada tacos, Korean BBQ
Soups and Salads: Arugula salad with vinaigrette, chili con carne, hot and sour soup
Entrees: Braised pork belly, meatloaf, chile relleno, caul fat-wrapped snapper
Cheeses: Cabrales blue cheese, Fiscalini Bandage Wrapped Cheddar, Bayley Hazen Blue, Rogue Caveman Blue
Desserts: Bitter chocolate, tiramisu, toffee peanut butter brittle, dark chocolate-dipped strawberries
Cigars: Flor de las Antillas Toro, Rocky Patel Decade, Camacho Corojo Figurado
It wasn’t experimental or foreign hops that raised Aleman’s creation to gold-medal heights. Surprisingly enough, it was the addition of…coffee beans. On the surface, java seems an outlandish adjunct for an IPA, but insight from the Second City brewing consortium—Jim Moorehouse, Brad Zeller and Nate Albrecht—reveals some sound and rather clever logic. The Aleman boys identified the flavor bridge that exists between earthy and citrus-forward hops as well the spice and fruit flavors that pour forth from certain varieties of coffee, and endeavored to marry the two in their quest to create “the perfect brunch beer.” Turns out, their “DayMan IPA” (originally brewed to be the counterpart to Aleman’s chamomile-laced dunkelweizen, “NightMan,” and named accordingly) was just plain perfect. Proof of that will come to store shelves across the country in the form of 22-ounce bottles of Aleman/Two Brothers/Stone DayMan Coffee IPA. Iron Brew’s grand prize was the opportunity to fly out to Stone and produce the beer on a large scale for major distribution. Aleman did so, conspiring with Ebel and Stone Brewmaster Mitch Steele, and the resulting brew is every bit as eye-opening as that award-winning iteration. Availability: Limited 22-ounce bottles and draft, beginning March 18 Hops Bill: Cascade and Citra Distribution: AZ, CA, CO, FL, IL, IN, MD, MA, MO, NC, NM, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, SC, TX, VA, VT, WA
From the Stone blog:
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