Rock Star Brewers Are Putting On A Concert... In Your Face.
Collaboration brews, which I affectionately call collabrews, are currently all the rage in the beer scene – having the craft beer lover screaming like a school girl in anticipation as our favorite rock star brewers get together to meld their artistic brewing styles into our favorite new craft beers. Getting a hold of these “love-child” brews is like collecting rare live performances of our favorite musicians. Some of these beers, so rare, can be a tough find; seeing that very few end up in the hands of the craft beer drinkers who yearn for them. Is the collaboration brew the sold out concert of the craft beer scene, or is the ticket too overpriced and too limited for the true fan to enjoy?
Recently we have seen an explosion of collaboration brews on the market from micro breweries near and far, and some in between. We have the cross country collab between Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head in Life & Limb. We have the upcoming collaborative efforts of Bavarian Barbarian and Bullfrog that could have been brainstormed at the bus stop. These two breweries are about two blocks away from one another in Williamsport, Pa. We also see G. Schnider & Sons Brewery from Germany teaming up with Brooklyn Brewery to conceive Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse and Schneider-Brooklyner Hopfen-Weisse (yes, I know it's confusing) where each brewmaster took the trip to the others brewery to father a child. There's even a few menage-a-trois beers around, such as the retired Alesmith, Mikkeller, and Stone's Belgian Style Tripel Ale. All of this can seem a bit overwhelming, but as much as a utopia to the beer geek as the Justice League is to the comic reader. We put our favorite breweries on a pedestal, and secretly fantasize about them teaming up as if they were going to fight crime together like Batman and Superman. Many noobs in the beer scene find a brewery they like, and akin to the craft beer nerds that we are, seek out these often limited brews to extend their palate by trying to find the mild nuances within these beers the sister brewery infused. It's a very exciting time in the brewery world with all of these collaboration brews. But is it a flash in the pan of the overall scene?
One of the most recent collaboration beers to hit the scene is Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head's limited offering of Life and Limb (and the even rarer, keg only Limb and Life.) In researching this beer, I found the following quotes within this article from Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head Brewery, and Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada on www.life-limb.com, the website for the collaborative brews. Their words are sincere, and sum up what craft beer brewing and collaboration are all about. One of the most respectable aspects of the craft beer scene is that it is not a competition, but rather, a brotherhood. We as the consumer see this at the many craft beer festivals, and corner bars ourselves. The craft beer drinker, although they never signed up, belong to a fraternity. It is amazing to me that a city as large as Philadelphia can have a small town feel if you truly enjoy craft beer. We see familiar faces at the craft beer bars, and many of us are friends through social networking; looking out for one another when we get the drop on a new beer being tapped. Sam Calagione understands this relationship amongst all of us, from drinker to brewer, with his quote about collaborating with Ken. Sam said, "I have gotten to know Ken through our years on The Brewers Association Board and at numerous beer events throughout the country. As a brewer myself, it is inspiring to see a person like Ken drive a beer-centric (as opposed to a biz-centric) brewery so far and so wide while sticking to his original ideals and integrating his family into the company. I have enjoyed talking (and drinking) beer with his children, especially Sierra and Brian who currently work alongside Ken at Sierra Nevada.
The iterative process of conceptualizing and brewing this beer with Ken and all the folks at Sierra has been a joy. We have designed this beer to intertwine signature aspects of both of our breweries' creative approaches-from sustainability to exotic sugars, from bottle conditioning to cellarability. I hope Mariah (Sam's wife), our amazing co-workers, and I can keep Dogfish on track with our beer-centric ideals for many years to come. I will know how successful we've been at this task if my children, Sammy and Grier, are able to share a bottle of 2009 Life & Limb with Sierra and Brian at a beer dinner or festival 15 years or so from now. I am hopeful that, as they toast each other, they can hold their heads up high knowing our two breweries were among many fine breweries that breathed LIFE into the colorful, diverse, and beautiful LIMBS of the American craft-brewing family tree." If that quote isn't something to toast to, I don't know what is.
The collaborative spirit doesn't just include breweries. For example, take Rogue Brewery from Oregon and their collaboration with world renowned, James Beard Award winning chef, Masaharu Morimoto. Also of Iron Chef fame, Morimoto has restaurants in New York and Philly, simply called Morimoto. The Rogue Ales Morimoto Signature Series puts a unique twist on the collaboration scene by taking unique ingredients to pair with Chef Morimoto's culinary specialties. Within this award-winning series are ales such as an Imperial Pilsner, Soba Ale, Black Obi Ale, and Morimoto Hazelnut. Yes, the hazelnut is the same recipe as the Hazelnut Brown Nectar, but within Philadelphia and New York it is labeled as Morimoto Hazelnut to be served in, and promote his restaurants. An even more extreme collaboration takes place between Dogfish Head Brewery and molecular archaeologist Dr. Patrick McGovern from the University of Pennsylvania Molecular archaeologists study human ancestry and genetic development, medical practice and even ancient dietary practices involving cuisine and beverages. Dr. McGovern is one of the world's leading experts in ancient beverages. Sam Calagione teamed up with Dr. McGovern to bring us the Ancient Ales Series which includes the Midas Touch, Chateau Jiahu and Theobroma. The Midas Touch is brewed with honey, white muscat grapes and saffron. The basis of this recipe is of the molecular evidence found in drinking vessels in King Midas' tomb. The Chateau Jiahu brings us back nine thousand years and places us in Northern China. The use of hawthorn fruit, sake, rice, barley and honey to brew this beer relies on evidence discovered in the pottery of a grave in the Neolithic village of Jiahu. Lastly, and most recently, we have the Theobroma. This recipe lends itself to the celebratory, chocolate alcoholic beverages enjoyed by the ancient Aztec and Mayan cultures. By teaming up with Dr. McGovern, Sam Calagione has traveled through time to collaborate on beers with some of the most influential cultures in the world. Through his Ancient Ales series, we get a unique glimpse of ancient beer recipes that have been lost for thousands of years, and this can be compared to a more recent collaboration with Yards and our founding fathers. Yards brews beers using the recipes of George Washington, Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Search out the first issue of Philly Beer Scene magazine for the full story on Yards' (literally speaking) revolutionary ales.
Using ancient recipes, traveling the world to co-brew an ale, and unique ingredients--these beers must be priceless, you're thinking. Well, you are close to being right. Although the collaboration efforts of these breweries are an exciting frontier on the beer scene, the truth is, they are pricy. Some argue that the consumer is paying for lush accommodations and travel time to far away breweries. Others argue that the prices nearly double for both breweries to get a cut of the proceeds. And still others argue that we are paying for unique and fancy packaging, or the limited availability of these collabrews, leaving many craft beer drinkers to only read about the product because it is snatched up by the employees of distributors and take-outs before the customer ever gets the chance. Some of these theories may be true, but I would like to think these collaborations are for the love of the art of brewing. We don't see the macro breweries teaming up just for the love of beer (the thought of the end result, if it did happen, makes me shudder.) Macro breweries are driven by greed and control of the market. From my experiences, I have yet to meet the craft brewer that solely did it for profitability, and firmly believe that the armor of the craft beer market would be tarnished to a level that it couldn't be repaired if a large majority of the craft industry was attempting to put out a poorly made product simply on hype and to make a quick buck. Sure, there are breweries that were previously considered craft, and end up being referred to as sell-outs because of their lack of focus on their product, and trying to boost their income by distributing to a larger territory too quickly.
Others have sold themselves outright to be housed by the macro breweries, and sadly, lost brand integrity. With that being said, I will still continue to believe that the collaboration brews are a labor of love; an experiment to bring you new and creative styles in the world of craft brewing. Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada summed up his collaboration with Dogfish Head by saying, "Sam and I have spent many evenings laughing, arguing and toasting glasses, talking about where we are in the business and where we're going. As Sierra Nevada approaches our 30th anniversary, it's inspiring to step back and see how far American craft beer has come. People like Sam and Dogfish help to push the boundaries of beer, and it has been fun working with him and the Dogfish crew. It will be great to see our families share this beer during anniversaries of their own." I agree with Ken. It's all about the love and compassion to the art. If that means I have to shell out a few extra bucks for the process, I will, knowing that these beers were made just as much for them, as they were for their ever adoring fans. Rock on, micro brewers.