Choc to release rare, commercially extinct beer
Apparently, Choc’s Signature Gose, a little-known tart and salty German wheat beer, was not obscure enough. After releasing the rare Gose in 2011, the Krebs brewery is one-upping itself in 2012 with the release of its next beer: A Polish smoked wheat beer that has been commercially extinct for about 20 years. Choc’s Gratzer (GREAT-sir) will be available as part of the brewery’s Signature Series in late January, Choc announced today. The beer will be available in corked-and-caged 750 ml bottles, and on tap in a limited quantity.
Here’s a press release Choc released today:
Traditionally the style was brewed with 100 percent oak-smoked wheat malt and a Polish yeast. The unavailability of these ingredients have created major obstacles for any commercial brewer interested in bringing back Gratzer. Undeterred by these challenges we decided to recreate this style. After considering smoking wheat malt in Krebs, we were able to convince Weyermann, our malt supplier, to smoke the malt. Once the malt was secured our attention turned to sourcing yeast. We could have used a readily available yeast strain, but we wanted to recreate a historically accurate Gratzer. With that in mind, a member of our team traveled to Poland to secure the proper yeast.
The resulting combination of wheat and oak smoke is very unique. It is a beer that every serious enthusiast should experience when Signature Gratzer hits stores in Oklahoma and western Arkansas in late January. As always with the annual Signature releases, there is a limited quantity. Once the beer is gone there will be no more until next year!
The Thirsty Beagle was lucky enough to be in Krebs on Gratzer brew day, and I can tell you this is a beer that was a challenge to brew – the guys at Choc really poured their hearts into this one. If for no other reason, you should try this brew to celebrate the lengths Choc went to to brew it, and to pay respect to their desire to push the beer envelope in Oklahoma.
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Comments
I am a member of the Choc Underground at this email. I tried Gratzer. I got it at Parkhills South in Tulsa. It is impressive to read that Choc sent a man to Poland to get it right. I put it in the fridge for a while. It was an experience uncorking it, didn’t know if no pressure or big like champagne. It popped open and was really neat when it poured into a glass. Dark beer ,white foam mixing. The head on the beer was real white and stayed a long time. I found myself sipping it like i would Scotch whiskey. and it is even better even to room temp. The smoke is obvious. It is like:this is a REAL beer!
Just posted this to beer advocate. Thanks Nick!