Fifty Must-Try Craft Beers of Ohio. Rick Armon
NAME THE FAT HEAD’S BEER that has been the biggest winner at the Great American Beer Festival. Be honest. Your answer was Hop JuJu (two golds and a bronze) or Head Hunter (a silver and a bronze), wasn’t it? Well, both of those are great guesses, given the brewery’s reputation for hoppy beers, but wrong—at least as of 2016.
AlpenGlow, a weizenbock, has taken home two gold medals and a silver.
“Has it won three times?” Fat Head’s co-owner and brewer Matt Cole says with a laugh. “I knew it was at least twice but I didn’t know it was three times. It’s a damn good beer.”
Weizenbocks are strong, dark Bavarian wheat beers. AlpenGlow was inspired by Schneider Weisse Aventinus, Pennsylvania Brewing Co.’s weizenbock, and a doppelbock that Cole made while working at Baltimore Brewing Co. He also gives heavy credit to Fat Head’s brewpub brewer Mike Zoscak for rounding the beer into award-winning shape.
Fat Head’s uses a variety of malts, including a bitter chocolate malt and Munich malt, which help mask the higher alcohol level.
“We like it to have a rich malt profile but also a lot of character of dried fruit and some subdued chocolate,” Cole says. “It’s really modeled after the classic Bavarian weizenbock beers.”
The real magic, though, happens when the brewery ferments AlpenGlow with a blend of German yeast strains. The blending adds a layer of complexity to the flavor and provides the banana, bubblegum, and clove characteristics that wheat beer fans crave. Fat Head’s also uses a process called free rise fermentation, allowing AlpenGlow to ferment as the temperature rises naturally over a period of time.
“It’s probably one of the most complex beers that we make,” Cole says. “We have a lot of pretty complicated beers. But it’s one of those beers that there are a lot of extra steps we do in the process.”
As for the name, AlpenGlow stems from a phenomenon experienced by many skiers. “When the sun sets on the backside of a mountain, you get this little bit of a glow, and it has these really deep mahogany ruby highlights,” Cole says. “It’s a really pretty beer.”
Note
*Opening November 2017
Anastasia Russian Imperial Stout
Weasel Boy Brewing Co. | www.weaselboybrewing.com
Weasel Boy Brewing Co.
126 Muskingum Ave.
Zanesville, Ohio 43701
(740) 455–3767
First brewed: 2007
Style: Russian imperial stout
Alcohol content: 8 percent
IBUs: 68
Awards: Gold medal in 2012 and bronze medal in 2010 at the Great American Beer Festival
Available: November through March on draft
IF YOU LIKE THIS BEER, here are five other Ohio craft beers to try:
• Barley’s Alexander’s Russian Imperial Stout
• Jackie O’s Dark Apparition
• Thirsty Dog Siberian Night Imperial Stout
• MadTree Axis Mundi
• Rhinegeist Ink
ANASTASIA RUSSIAN IMPERIAL STOUT made its professional debut in 2007, but it had been around long before then. Owner and brewer Jay Wince, a fan of imperial stouts, made it as a homebrew in 2001, the first beer recipe that he ever designed on his own. (Two years later, the beer won an annual homebrew competition at Barley’s Brewing.)
Influenced by Bell’s Expedition, Wince set out to create a British-style imperial stout that was heavier on the malt flavor and lower in alcohol content.
“I wanted a fairly full-bodied, rich beer for sipping, no matter what temperature,” he says. “Most people really like those in the cold weather. It’s something to throw in a snifter and really enjoy.”
He certainly succeeded in producing an enjoyable brew. The beer is a two-time winner at the Great American Beer Festival, taking home a gold and a bronze. Wince, who launched the Weasel Boy production brewery and tasting room in 2007 with his wife, Lori, says it’s especially satisfying to win twice.
Anastasia, which is available only on draft, also comes in a version aged in bourbon barrels. In 2014, Weasel Boy had fun by tossing it in a Cabernet barrel.
Anyone familiar with Weasel Boy knows that its beers feature some sort of weasel-related name. That’s thanks to the Winces’ love of the animals. Anastasia, obviously, is the anomaly.
The name dates back to the beer’s homebrew days, when Jay was searching for a Russian-related name. There were plenty of Alexanders, a reference to various Russian tsars. He opted for Anastasia, the daughter of the last tsar, Nicholas II, who was executed along with his family in 1918. The homebrew picked up numerous medals at national competitions, so Wince saw no reason to change the name when Weasel Boy opened.
As for his original homebrewed batch of Anastasia, Wince still has two bottles aging. He’s hoping to crack them open when celebrating future Great American Beer Festival wins.
Barley’s Scottish Ale
Barley’s Brewing Co. | www.barleysbrewing.com
Barley’s Brewing Co.
467 N. High St.
Columbus, Ohio 43215
(614) 228–2537
First brewed: 1993
Style: Scotch ale
Alcohol content: 6.6 percent
IBUs: 14
Available: Year-round on draft
IF YOU LIKE THIS BEER, here are five other Ohio craft beers to try:
• Smokehouse MacLenny’s Scottish Ale
• Millersburg Doc’s Scotch Ale
• Thirsty Dog Twisted Kilt Scottish Export Ale
• Market Garden Wallace Tavern Scotch Ale
• Fifty West Going Plaid
BARLEY’S HEAD BREWER Angelo Signorino Jr. still remembers his boss’s response when he mentioned his plan to create a Scottish ale. Signorino, then the assistant brewer, wanted to make a beer similar to MacAndrew’s Scotch Ale from Scotland. To do so, he was going to fire up the gas burners to preheat the brew kettle and scorch the wort for a full half-hour, caramelizing it and getting the strongest malt flavor possible. The bottom of the brew kettle at Barley’s just happens to be flatter than most, making it difficult to clean but perfect for scorching wort evenly.
Former head brewer Scott Francis, though, initially was a little skeptical about the process. “Do you know how much that brew kettle costs?” he asked at the time.
Signorino reassured him that the plan was to keep the bottom of the kettle covered in water right up until sending in the wort, so the long scorch wasn’t going to damage