Two Cincinnati Companies Release Limited Edition Graeter’s Blueberry Pie Brown Ale During Annual Cones for the Cure Campaign
CINCINNATI, OH (August 29, 2017) – Graeter’s Ice Cream, a 147-year-old, family owned craft ice cream company, and Braxton Brewing Co., a local brewing company, have partnered once again to release a unique ice cream-inspired ale; this time in support of The Cure Starts Now. This Blueberry Pie Brown Ale builds on the success of the brands’ recent collaboration in early 2017.
On September 9th, the unique brew will be introduced at Braxton Brewing Co.’s taproom via a tapping party and will be available at participating Kroger stores throughout Northern Kentucky, Cincinnati, Lexington, Louisville, Dayton and Nashville beginning on September 11th. With this product, Braxton Brewing Co. and its wholesale partners, have pledged a donation upwards of $10,000 to the charity to help further raise awareness of The Cure Starts Now.
At the center of Graeter’s and Braxton Brewing Co.’s new product launch is The Cure Starts Now and its mission to find the homerun cure for cancer by focusing on pediatric brain cancer. It ultimately gives consumers a unique way to support this increasingly important cause. The one-of-a-kind Graeter’s Blueberry Pie Brown Ale is a creatively crafted beverage inspired by one of Graeter’s most iconic seasonal flavors, Elena’s Blueberry Pie – a special flavor that was created by a Cincinnati family in support of The Cure Starts Now. This year, Graeter’s Ice Cream and The Cure Starts Now welcome Braxton Brewing Co.’s aid in the Cones for the Cure campaign as well as the heightened awareness it will bring.
“Our support of the Cure Starts Now is entering a new decade” said Chip Graeter, 4th generation co-owner of Graeter’s. “Ten years ago we created this special ice cream flavor and have been committed to the cause ever since. And this year, we’re elevating awareness even more with Braxton Brewing Co.’s ice cream-inspired ale. We couldn’t be more excited for this year’s campaign.”
As part of its continued support for The Cure Starts Now, Graeter’s will be featuring Elena’s Blueberry Pie ice cream during the Cones for the Cure Campaign, September 7-17, and throughout September (while supplies last). Guests in the Graeter’s retail scoop shops during the campaign period also have the opportunity to make a donation directly to The Cure Startes Now Foundation. Graeter’s will offer a coupon booklet with up to $20 in savings for every donation of $5 or more.
“Based on the success of Black Raspberry Chip Milk Stout, we thought long and hard about what we could do to raise the bar,” shared Jake Rouse Co-Founder and CEO of Braxton Brewing Company. “After hearing The Cure Starts Now’s story about the genesis of the ‘Homerun Cure’ it became abundantly clear, I couldn’t be more thrilled to have such an amazing beer support such a worthwhile cause.”
“It’s wonderful that two amazing Cincinnati businesses are helping to support a cause that started right here at home in Cincinnati,” shared Keith Desserich, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board at The Cure Starts Now.. “Through Graeter’s support, we’ve been able to raise nearly $500,000 in new cancer research and we couldn’t be more excited about having Braxton’s involvement in this to take it to new a new level.”
5 Sep 2017…This update from Braxton:
Even before we launched Graeter’s Black Raspberry Chip Stout earlier this year, we knew that we had found something very special in this relationship between two flavor-based companies. Working with a company with that much tradition and integrity was an absolute joy and a true collaboration…and we were ecstatic with how the release went, and how many of you loved the beer.
Not one to rest on our laurels though, we began planning for the next big project to collaborate on.
We started working on the recipe for a beer inspired by Elena’s Blueberry Pie ice cream in May of 2017, and it took every bit of 3 months and 5 test batches for us to finally determine that we got it right.
It was obvious that the blueberry flavor would need to be front and center in this beer, and we have some experience with making fruit flavors pop (Summertrip, Buzz, and Short Fuse are good examples), so we went with a similar approach with this beer. We added a generous amount of blueberry juice directly to the fermenter at the start of fermentation, rather than boiling it with the wort, in an effort to preserve some of the more delicate aromatics of the fruit.
People make blueberry beers all the time though; our point of differentiation was to be the marriage of that fruit flavor with pie crust and residual sweetness, making it taste more like a dessert. To do this, we did several things:
- Judicious use of malts that mirror some of the same flavors. Wheat malt, rolled oats, Briess Cara Brown, and Briess Victory all come together to lend a bready, biscuity, toasty character to the beer.
- Graham cracker crumbs in the lauter tun. Though blueberry pies are not made with graham cracker crust, this addition contributes another level of bready character, due to the whole wheat flour used to make them.
- Vanilla in the finished beer elevates the flavor of the blueberry from fresh fruit to dessert-like.
- Brown sugar and lactose leave us with some faint notes of molasses, some residual sweetness, and a creamier mouthfeel.
As are all projects of this magnitude, this one has been difficult at times. But the final result is truly rewarding and truly delicious! Not only from a flavor perspective but from a meaning perspective. The best part of this beer is that we’re helping The Cure Starts Now raise money to find the homerun cure for cancer. Lift one to life with us this weekend!
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