Central Waters goes green
and gold
By Jim Lundstrom
Anticipation is running high for Central Waters’ 2009 Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine since its predecessor, the 2008 release, recently picked up a coveted gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver.
“It’s an extra reassurance that we’re doing something right. We’re very proud of it,” brewery co-owner Anello Mollica said of the medal. “The really nice thing is it’s in the same category that we won a gold in two years ago for our Bourbon Barrel Cherry Stout. We’ve only entered the least three years, so coming out with two golds is great. Typically this category – wood- and barrel-aged beer – is one of the most-entered categories in the entire competition. This year it was the fourth most entered category (with 79 entries). The bourbon barrel-aged beers have become extremely popular, so it shows us we’re on top of the game and we’re providing a real quality barrel-aged product.”
The award-winning, 12% alcohol barley wine is a close relative of the brewery’s Kosmyk Charlie’s Y2K Catastrophe Ale.
“We brew our barley wine, Kozmyk Charlie’s, once a year, and it is a minimum of 12 months old,” Mollica said. “We put some of that batch in bourbon barrels and that gives it a different aging character. It ages in the barrel for a minimum of six months. This is a beer we really anticipate will age nicely seven to 10 years, so you can do what’s called a vertical tasting, where you have seven or 10 years of barley wine side by side and see how the aging process in the bottle changes. This is really a connoisseur’s beer.”
Due to an expansion under way at the Amherst brewery, Central Waters did not have a representative to accept the medal at the GABF in Denver.
“We just couldn’t make it. It was a little too hectic,” Mollica said. “Of course, it’s Murphy’s Law. When you don’t go, you win. But that’s OK. It was broadcast live over the Internet. We were watching at the bar. A big cheer went up. We were celebrating for sure.”
The expansion will allow Central Waters to keep up with the every-growing demand for its beers.
“When we built this brewery a year and half ago, we anticipated it would meet a lot of our current demands,” Mollica said. “But the last two years we’ve doubled production. We always find ourselves in the position of not having enough beer to fill our orders and our distributors saying we could use more product because we have a lot of people waiting for the product. We’re going to double production again next year. We’ll do 3,000 barrels (93,000 gallons) this year and we’re shooting for 6,000 barrels next year.”
The expansion includes a new brewhouse, packaging line and a remodeled tap room where the public can taste fresh Central Waters beers on weekends.
“We’re going to be redoing the entire taproom,” Mollica said. “We’re going to add a second bathroom and we’re going to add seating. We’re hoping to get seating for 50 people. We’re going to rebuild the bar and just provide a more comfortable environment for customers. We’re hoping it will be completed by the end of the year.”
While the tap room may be the most visible aspect of the brewery expansion, the owners relish the idea of going solar.
“One of the things with the expansion that we’re going to be really, really proud of, we’ll be installing 1,000 square feet of solar hot water panels, which will make us the first brewery in the state of Wisconsin that will be actually heating their beer with solar energy,” Mollica said. “We’ll also be using that to heat our building, but we’ll be working it up so it partially heats our kettle water, so our beer will be partially heated with solar energy.”
With a higher upfront cost and a seven-year payback for the solar heating option, Mollica says choosing to go green demonstrates to the world that Central Waters is here for the duration.
“It is a higher upfront cost, but there are rebates and tax credits available to us for using it in industry purposes. And with the seven-year payback, we’re going to be around longer than seven years, so it just makes sense,” he said. “With the higher upfront cost, I think that really shows the company that we really are. We’ll sacrifice if it’s a good thing to do, not just for the environment, but for the business, for the community. We’re a small company and it’s difficult for us to afford this, but there are larger companies out there that could afford this and don’t do it. I think that’s kind of how we swim against the current in the business world.”
Look for Central Waters 2009 Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine in single 12-ounce bottles.
Capital Brewing of Madison also picked up a GABF gold medal, for its delicious Autumnal Fire.
Other state award winners at the GABF include Dell’s Brewing Co, a silver for Dells Chief Amber Ale; Great Dane of Madison, a bronze for Old Scratch Barley Wine; Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing, a silver for Creamy Dark; Lakefront Brewery of Milwaukee, a silver for its gluten free beer New Grist; Titletown Brewing of Green Bay, a silver for Railyard Ale.
MillerCoors took eight medals, including two golds (for Coors Light and Henry Weinhard’s Hefeweizen, but since corporate headquarters will be moving from Milwaukee to Illinois, do we really care?
* * *
St. Benedict’s Winter Ale, Stevens Point Brewery: Monkish abbey ale is the inspiration for this winter warmer from our friends at Point Brewery.
This is the second year of production for the seasonal St. Benedict’s Winter Ale, which proved so popular in its debut last year that the brewery doubled production with this year’s release.
My first sample came right from the fridge. It poured deep amber with a frothy head as white as the monk’s beard on the bottle label. Nice maltiness and a hint of spice and is that dark chocolate on the finish?
But the second bottle I brought to room temperature before drinking and, pow! Big, round, malty flavor – almost big enough to chew – with subtle spice and an even more subtle fruity ale undertone.
We have gotten into our national mindset that beer always has to be cold. Trust me on this one – let St. Benedict’s warm up a bit. You’ll thank me for it.
