Collaboration Beers Hit Local Retailers

Passionate craft brewers all around the country -- and in Europe -- in increasing numbers are putting aside rivalries to join together to produce special beers that have become known as collaboration beers.

Generally, two brewers develop a new beer recipe and then brew it in of their breweries. The result often is an exotic brew high in alcohol that’s often pricey, frequently in the style of a boundary stretching beer from Belgium. 

Many are showing up at area beer specialists and taverns. Check the shelves of such local beer retailers as Shoreline Beverage, Big Z Beverage and Superstar Beverage.

You may find a recent collaborations Marrón Acidifié, a not-for-everyone, tart as balsamic vinegar Belgian-style brew from Cigar City Brewing, of Tampa and Southern California’s The Breuery.

Then there’s Collaboration Not Litigation Ale, an 8.72 percent alcohol Belgian-style strong ale, from Avery Brewing, of Boulder, Colo., and Russian River Brewing, of Sonoma, Calif.  Several years ago, both brewers introduced similar beers with the same name, Salvation.  Rather than duke it out in the courts, they decided to blend their respective brews. The beer has a distinct Belgian character—spicy, fruity, caramel sweetness and a bitter finish.

Boston Beer, which makes Samuel Adams, collaborated with Germany’s Weihenstephan, the world’s oldest brewery, to develop an new limited edition beer that resembles Champagne. Called Infinium, it offers fruity, honey and sourdough flavors. 

Brooklyn Brewery, which collaborated with England’s Brakspear Brewery in the 1990s to make Brooklyn Bridge Bitter, more recently collaborated with Munich’s G. Schneider and Sohn to produce Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen Weisse, a hop-fueled Weiss bock. 

Another trans-Atlantic collaboration, Bashah, joined San Diego’s Stone Brewing with Scotland’s Brew Dog Brewery.  The 8.6 percent alcohol Belgian-style strong ale is viscous and suggests dark gourmet chocolate and coffee flavors.

It’s not just Belgian styles beers being brewed. Some brewers have joined with artisnal brewers in Belgium, blending Old World tradition and American innovation.

Among them is Ommergang of Cooperstown and Belgian farmstead brewers Brasserie d‘Achouffe. The result: Gnomegang, a spicy, sweetish, highly carbonated collaboration that used yeasts from both breweries.

Then there’s Bière De L'Amitié, a 9.5 percent alcohol brew from Green Flash, of San Diego, and Belgium’s Brasserie St. Feuillien. Their Belgian strong golden ale, made using rye and wheat malt, and American Amarillo hops, is a bubbly, biscuity brew, reminiscent of the peppery Belgian stalwart, Duvel.        

Another offering, an oak-aged Flanders red ale called Moeten from Chicago’s Two Brothers Brewing and Belgium’s Urthel Brewery— lacked oomph.

Europeans are collaborating, too. Mikkeller and Brew Dog, iconoclastic brewers from Denmark and Scotland, respectively, joined in 2009 to produce a rich, malty barley wine called Divine Rebel. Aged in whiskey casks and fermented with ale and Champagne yeast, the result is a 12.5 percent alcohol beer redolent of dried fruit flavors, caramelized sugar and a bit of smoke.

Mikkeller also worked with Belgium’s De Struise Brouwers to create a range of beers using the same ingredients, except for yeast. These, alas, were not sampled