Odell Brewing Introducing a Gose

Odell Brewing of Ft. Collins, Colorado will release its newest seasonal four pack on July 4. Following Tree Shaker, Brombeere is a Gose brewed with blackberries.

Originating in Germany, Gose is a soured wheat ale brewed with salt and spices. The Odell Brewing team used a house culture for natural souring along with coriander in the kettle to give the beer its tartness. The team added blackberry juice during fermentation for a balancing sweetness.

“The process that we use is unique to us and not something our brewhouse was designed to do,” said Tony Rau, an Odell Brewing lab technician. “We are beginning to push our system in creative ways to craft unique styles of beer. The natural souring process and the fruit addition make this beer more labor intensive than most, but it really shines through in the flavor of the finished beer.”

The company’s release described the beer as balanced yet complex. “Brombeere boasts just a hint of salt and a touch of tartness that is quenching but not puckering. The blackberries lend a subtle fruity sweetness that balances and compliments the salty tartness. The finish is clean, crisp and refreshing.

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More Blues From Brevard

Construction will commence this week in Brevard, North Carolina on and expansion of the Oskar Blues Brewery. It includes a 9,000 square-foot expanded waste water treatment system building and a 17,000 square-foot addition for fermentation tanks connected to the back of the existing 30,000 square-foot warehouse. Also to be added are a second 50-barrel mash tun, plus a silo to hold spent grain before transport, more administrative offices, and a commissary kitchen for the CHUBwagon food truck.

The North Carolina brewery opened in December of 2012 as the East Coast craft beer manufacturing and distribution hub for the Longmont, Colorado-based Oskar Blues brand. In the first two years of production, the Brevard brewery produced 110,000 barrels of beer and is on track to produce 85,000 just in 2015. The expansion will increase capacity to 210,000 barrels. Oskar Blues currently employs 45 staff in Brevard. As growth continues, more job opportunities will open up. A number of local businesses are involved in the planning, development and construction for the expansion.

"We're excited to continue our exponential growth in our second home of Brevard," said general manager Noah Tuttle. "We appreciate the support of the community, city and county, and we love that so many of our friends and neighbors wander in for a pint or a brewery tour on a regular basis."

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Largest University Brewing System Set For Installation 

Western Kentucky University has announced the installation of the largest brewing to be located at a U.S. university. Here is the media release:

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The largest brewing system to be located at a university, and the first in Kentucky, has been delivered to the Center for Research and Development at Western Kentucky University.

Alltech Inc. of Lexington is leasing space in the Center to start a craft beer brewing operation using the 15-barrel micro brewing production system and will pay the renovation and installation costs. In addition, Alltech will develop a lab for students so they can gain hands-on experience and conduct research.

“Craft brewing is one of the fastest-growing industries in Kentucky,” said Andrew McMichael, Assistant Dean of WKU’s Potter College of Arts & Letters. He and Cathleen Webb, Associate Dean for Research for WKU’s Ogden College of Science and Engineering, are working with Alltech and WKU’s Division of Extended Learning and Outreach to offer a summer institute of four courses starting June 15.

In addition, Drs. McMichael and Webb are developing the curriculum for a brewing and distilling program and plan to present it to the faculty this fall. “Faculty input is critical,” Dr. Webb said, adding the program would be co-directed by Potter and Ogden colleges.

Drs. McMichael and Webb spent a year talking with people in the brewing and distilling industry, asking what educational background they wanted in their employees and what they wish they knew when they started in the industry. They said the answers were fairly uniform and are being used in the curriculum development.

“We want to be responsive to the needs of the industry which is looking for a broad, liberal arts and science background,” Dr. McMichael said. “Our program is being designed to prepare students to work at any level in the growing brewing and distilling industry.”

While the Alltech brewery operation and the curriculum are independent, they will work together to make the program better and unique, Dr. Webb said. Having the student lab located with the brewery and next to other labs in the Center, such as the Water Quality Lab, will put the program steps ahead, she added.

The brewery is expected to begin operations this fall.