Some things are simply meant to go together like bacon and eggs, toast and jam, or coffee and cream. Just like our latest collaboration with the Crafty Ladies Beer Club – “Kaffeina” is the perfect combination of a velvety, nitro-cream-ale and carefully roasted coffee.
The inspiration for the beer came when we got together with the Crafty Ladies during a breakfast-for-dinner event. Breakfast foods like eggs, bacon, waffles, and donuts open a whole world of exciting beer pairings where coffee beers feel especially at home. Normally we would head straight for the stout and the similar flavors of roasted barley and coffee, but the idea of lightening the base beer in order to really highlight the coffee was both challenging and exciting.
The Crafty Ladies were a big help and attended several R&D sessions to sample different coffees and base beers. “Epic is taking coffee seriously and treating it the same way hops are treated - with both attention to origin and roast profile. Tasting their impact on the beer was eye-opening and a fun process to be involved with,” says Katie O’Shea Padró, a founding member of the Crafty Ladies Beer Club.
Eventually we landed on a clean malt-forward cream ale and a delightful single origin Ethiopian Sidama Deri Kochoha roasted by Novo Coffee. If you think that’s a mouth full just wait till you taste the beer. It’s a bright straw color with a huge and unexpected roasted coffee aroma. The fruity ale esters blend perfectly with the lightness of the roasted coffee and suggest orange blossoms and pomegranate with butterscotch sweetness from the malt. The finish is mildly tannic and returns to the roasted quality of the aroma. “Kaffeina is perfect with brunch but I also love it as an afternoon refreshment or even after dinner,“ says John Turk, Epic’s Colorado Sales Manager.
Kaffeina will be released at Epic’s Taproom on Friday, November 4th on Nitro and in 22oz bottles. The beer will also be on draft at Highland Tap and Burger, Sloan’s Tap & Burger and Bar Dough as well as sold in select liquor stores.
The Crafty Ladies Beer Club was founded in 2010 and has a simple mission: to bring women in the community together one craft beer at a time. They offer educational meetings and tastings twice a month, meeting at Highland Tap and Burger. For more information visit their website at www.craftyladiesbeerclub.com
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