Past Newsletters
Vol. 6 No. 11
| Brewery | Beers Featured |
| Saint Arnold Brewing Company | Saint Arnolds Amber Ale |
| Saint Arnold Brewing Company | St. Arnolds Brown Ale |
| Greenshields Brewing Company | Greenshields Amber Ale |
| Greenshields Brewing Company | Greenshields Nut Brown Ale |
Saint Arnold Brewing Company
Saint Arnold was born to a prominent Austrian family in 580 in the Chateau of Lay-Saint-Christophe in the old French diocese of Toul, north of Nancy. He married Doda, with whom he had many sons, two of whom were to become famous: Clodulphe, later called Saint Cloud, and Ansegis who married Begga, daughter of Pépin de Landen. Ansegis and Begga are the great-great-grandparents of Charlemagne, and as such, Saint Arnold is the oldest known ancestor of the Carolingian dynasty.
Saint Arnold was acclaimed bishop of Metz, France, in 612 and spent his holy life warning peasants about the dangers of drinking water. Beer was safe, and "from man's sweat and God's love, beer came into the world." The people revered Arnold. Go Figure. In 627, Saint Arnold retired to a monastery near Remiremont, France, where he died on August 16, 640.
In 641, the citizens of Metz requested that Saint Arnold's body be exhumed and ceremoniously carried to Metz for reburial in their Church of the Holy Apostles. During this voyage a miracle came to pass in the town of Champignuelles. The tired porters and followers stopped for a rest and walked into a tavern for a drink of their favorite beverage. Regretfully, there was only one mug of beer to be shared, but that mug never ran dry and all of the thirsty pilgrims were satisfied.
Just as Saint Arnold is recognized by the Catholic Church as the Patron Saint of Brewers, Brock Wagner should be recognized as the Patron Saint of Texas Brewers.
The owner of Saint Arnolds, Brock has a long history with beer. In fact, it starts before he was born. His great-great-great grandfather came from Alsace in the mid-1800's and opened Wagner's Beer Hall in San Francisco (now the oldest existing bar in the city, renamed The Saloon). Brock grew up in Cincinnati and Brussels, both big brewing towns, where he was exposed to many of the beer styles of the world. Then in college at Rice University, fate (and a friend) introduced him to homebrewing. This love of beer and brewing was what eventually led him to the inevitable: opening a microbrewery.
Brock develops the recipes for the Saint Arnold beers based on his own homebrewing experience coupled with a desire to create world-class beers for local tastes. His preference is for beers with rich malty, creamy flavors and no shortage of hops. Several of Brock’s beers have won awards, including two gold medals at the 1995 Colorado State Fair and a Silver Medal at the 1996 World Beer Championships.
For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (713) 686-9494 or check out their web site at www.saintarnold.com.
Serving Temperature: 40-45° F
Original Gravity: 14.5° Plato
Final Gravity: 2.5° Plato
Int'l Bittering Units: 30.0
Alcohol by Volume: 5.5%
Saint Arnolds Amber Ale brewed with both two-row pale and imported Belgium Caravienne malts which lend a caramel sweetness and fuller body to the beer. Brock uses only Pacific Northwest hop varieties. The addition of Cascades early in the brewing process gives the ale bitterness to balance the malt sweetness. A 2nd addition of Cascades during the boil gives this beer its pleasant hop flavor. Brock then finishes Liberty hops, a "Noble" variety, which gives a round, soft hop aroma. Immediately note a complex hop aroma up front with big floral tones and some spiciness as well in this light amber, filtered ale. We found it medium to full-bodied, very well balanced Amber Ale with a pleasant maltiness and yeast fruitiness in the body. Note excellent head retention & a slightly bitter finish. Overall, a great balance of malts and hops all the way through! We loved it.
Serving Temperature: 42-47° F
Original Gravity: 14.0° Plato
Final Gravity: 3.0° Plato
Int'l Bittering Units: 20.0
Alcohol by Volume: 5.3%
St. Arnolds Brown Ale is brewed with a combination of 2-row pale, light and dark Belgium caramel, & chocolate malts. The brewery hops it up with Perle up front for bittering and a light addition cascade & liberty for bittering and flavor. Finally, it’s finished with liberty hops for aroma. Look for a light malt & chocolate roastedness in the nose. We found the body rich and malty sweet with hints of roasted chocolate & caramel. The light fruitiness, characteristic of ales, is derived from a proprietary yeast strain. Note a creamy maltiness in the finish of this beautiful, deep reddish-brown ale.
Greenshields Brewing Company
Greenshields Brewery & Pub is among the oldest brewpub operations East of the Mississippi. It was founded by Gary Greenshields, a native of Oklahoma, who has over 25 years of experience in the beer and beverage industry.
Gary started out in late 1987 researching brewpubs throughout the U.S and Canada and finally decided to start up the business following a month-long pub-crawl through England and Scotland. Believing that it is better to visit snow than to live in it, Gary limited his search for a location to the nice weather states of Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina. Raleigh’s Old City Market seemed to offer the right ambiance and so Gary and his wife moved from Winston-Salem in early 1989 to build their dream.
Operations kicked off in the summer of 1989 in a 200 seat restaurant in Raleigh’s historic Old City Market building, where the beer was brewed in a new 10 barrel "old English" style brew house designed and commissioned by Michael Lewis. The 1989 facilities proved too small to satisfy Raleigh’s taste for handcrafted beer, so in 1993 an expansion of both the restaurant and the brewery began. When all was said and done, another 200 seats were added while keeping with the cozy English manor house decor style.
The expanded brewery is built around a 25-hectoliter brew house constructed by the notable Kaspar-Schulz, a German company that has been in the business since 1677. Brewing operations are directed by German brewmaster Thomas Kunzmann, who has over 20 years of training and experience. With three years of training to become a brewer and a malter, an additional two years in practical, and another two years to get his Brewmaster and Maltmaster Degrees, it's not hard to see that Thomas is truly devoted to creating beers that are of the highest possible quality.
Greenshields has the awards to show for the excellent work done by Thomas and his staff --- taking the silver medal at the Great American Beer Festival, winning Spectator Magazine's "Best Draft Beer in the Triangle" award six years in a row, and receiving the award for Best Micro Brewed category for the last four years.
For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (919) 829-0214 or check out their web site at www.greenshields.com.
Serving Temperature: 40-45° F
Original Gravity: 12.5° Plato
Final Gravity: 3.0° Plato
Int'l Bittering Units: 30.0
Alcohol by Volume: 5.6%
Greenshields Amber is brewed with 7 different grains including 50% Vienna malts, 2-row pilsner, caramunich, carapils, munich and 2 other caramel varieties. It’s hopped with high-end type 45 German hops including Brewers Gold and Spalt Select hops in 3 additions. The hops used are tannin reduced which mean that stems and non-cone pieces are removed resulting in a rounder, cleaner tasting beer. Look for good head retention in this deep copper colored, filtered ale. Note a subtle aromatic floral hop nose with some maltiness evident. We found it refined, clean and very well rounded. It’s brewed to be in the English Extra Special Bitter class. Overall, a clean, flavorful interpretation of the style. Very well balanced.
Serving Temperature: 40-45° F
Original Gravity: 12.0° Plato
Final Gravity: 3.2° Plato
Int'l Bittering Units: 27.0
Alcohol by Volume: 5.1%
The brewery uses 6 malts in this bad boy. Lots of carahelle for body and dark roasted D-husk black malt for color in addition to many of the same grains used in the amber. Greenshields Nut Brown is an ale (top fermented) brewed with three different 2-row barley malts. Look for a subtle hop profile in the nose with some nutty roastedness evident. Note a medium-to-full bodied ale and a very nice mouth feel in this deep rich brownish-red, filtered, ale. It’s certainly fully fermented and very drinkable. Look for a malt-dominated body. It’s not aggressively hopped true to style. We found the finish to be pleasantly rich, offering a sweet roastedness. Overall, a pretty complex malt profile for a brown ale. A solid beer. We liked it and think you will too!
This Month’s Style Comparison
This month we feature two breweries that brew beers of exceptional quality. As you may notice, we have chosen to feature an Amber Ale and a Brown Ale from each. And yes, it was intentional! This month’s featured selections offer you the opportunity to conduct a style comparison in 2 different styles. You should notice a distinct difference between the two interpretations of each style compared. Why? It’s really pretty simple. Greenshields beers are brewed by a German brewmaster, while St. Arnolds’ beers are All-American baby! Test your loyalties! The differences between the brewmasters of Germany, England, Belgium, and the U.S. are vast, not only in their approach to brewing, but also in the final spectrum of tastes that they are trying to achieve.
The first thing you will notice about the Greenshields beers is that they are very "drinkable". This is a term often used to describe beers that are smooth, well balanced and can be enjoyed by a majority of beer drinkers. Germans tend to prefer beers brewed in this fashion and Greenshields brewmaster Thomas Kunzmann has done an excellent job in this respect.
American beer aficionados, unlike their German counterparts, go for what beer geeks refer to as "big" beers. This refers to beers that explode with flavor, are very full-bodied, and may be a bit much for, say an aficionado of Old Style or Hamms.
We fully expect that half of you will love the St. Arnolds beers, but find the Greenshields beers a bit too light for your taste. The other half will love the Greenshields beers, but will find the St. Arnolds beers a bit too strong for your liking. This is what beer tasting is all about! Take note of what you like or dislike about each beer and the differences you find in each. Have fun!
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