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41
November / December 2014 •
Combine two or more component beers to
produce a different end result, and you've got blended
beer. Every bartender knows you can fill a pint glass
halfway with pale ale, top it gently with Guinness
stout and create a black and tan—it's blended beer
straight from the tap.
But at the brewing level, the process is more
complicated and risky. Add the wrong component
and you could jeopardize the whole batch.
If you succeed, however, the beer you produce
will be more complex and surprising than any single
portion you have added, offering something new for
sophisticated palates.
The term blended beer does not refer to any one
style of beer specifically. It can apply to myriad kinds
of beer but best describes barrel-aged brews, varieties
of classic sour beer such as gueuze, and beers that
are mixed with unfermented wine grapes into a beer-
wine hybrid.
Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido, CA, is known
for its straightforward hoppy beers. But the company
has recently segued into integrating beers. "We have
really just gotten into beer blending, with our Mixtape
series," says Stone's brewmaster Mitch Steele. Vol. 1
of the Mixtape series came out in April 2012.
"We evaluate fresh beers, barrel-aged beers, and
archived and aged beers to create interesting and fun
blends," Steel says. Lukcy Basartd is a blend of Stone's
Arrogant Bastard Ale, Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale
and dry-hopped Double Bastard Ale.
With collaborations like Woot Stout 2.0, released
this past July, Stone bourbon barrel-aged a portion
of the beer and then blended it back in. "This is a
process that we do about four times each year, and
we usually bring in people from a great account of
ours to help with developing the blend," he says.
What is the advantage of taking a risk on blending
beer when a brewery is already well established
By Erika Bolden
Brewers and operators are getting
creative with blended beer
F
rom classic sour styles to barrel-aged beers to innovative beer-wine
hybrids, blended beer takes America's favorite adult beverage to a
new level. Blending beer is a traditional technique in brewing with
modern applications.
