
January is always a fun time at our brewery. It’s the time of year when we begin planning to make beers to be enjoyed by craft brewers across the nation and world. The Craft Brewers Conferences attract over 1000 brewmasters and brewers for seminars, discussions and a trade show for the vendors that serve the craft beer industry. As many of you already know, for the last three years, we have collaborated with friend and Brewmaster Eric Toft of Schönrammer Brauerei in Germany, along with the German Hop Growers Association, to create unique beers that showcase the great hops of Germany. Our first effort was Saphir Bock, brewed for the 2007 Craft Brewers Conference in Austin. It was hoppy and the craft brewers in audience were excited to drink a hoppy bock beer.
For the 2008 Craft Beer Conference in San Diego, we upped the offerings to 3 beers. The Tettnanger Pils and Spalt Select Pils were an interesting exploration of hop aromas and flavors. Many preferred the flavor of the Tettnang and the aroma of the Spalt Select. Others concluded the opposite. That is the fun of it. We also brewed a . . .

