ST. LOUIS -- Six small-batch Budweiser beers, named after the ZIP codes of the Anheuser-Busch breweries that created them, will be part of a summer-long, nationwide sampling effort, the company said.
Twelve Anheuser-Busch brewmasters at Budweiser's 12 geographically dispersed breweries created their own "tribute" beers for the Budweiser brand. "Project 12" pays homage to Budweiser by using the proprietary yeast directly descended from the original Budweiser yeast culture used by Adolphus Busch in 1876 and still used by Budweiser today.
Through internal tasting and analysis, the 12 small-batch beers--each a lager using all-natural ingredients--were pared to six to take part in the sampling effort. Consumer feedback will help Budweiser narrow the six beers to three for inclusion in a limited-edition sampler pack, available for purchase this fall.
"We asked our Budweiser brewmasters to each submit a beer idea in styles that consumers have shown interest in," said Rob McCarthy, vice president of Budweiser. "From those 12 ideas, we narrowed it to the six best. Our brewmasters have been working in small teams this spring and early summer to perfect these six and now it's time for consumers to let us know what they think."
To launch the six sampler beers, private events with brewmasters are scheduled to take place in August in all 12 A-B brewery cities: St. Louis; Merrimack, N.H.; Baldwinsville, N.Y.; Newark, N.J.; Williamsburg, Va.; Cartersville, Ga.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Columbus, Ohio; Houston; Fort Collins, Colo.; Fairfield, Calif.; and Los Angeles.
The six beers include:
- Budweiser Small Batch 91406 (Los Angeles): A deep-amber lager with 6% ABV that uses four different types of hops. The beer is brewed by brewmaster Bryan Sullivan in Los Angeles and was developed in collaboration with Scott Ungermann in Fairfield and Dave Cohen in Houston.
- Budweiser Small Batch 63118 (St. Louis): A deep-gold 5% ABV American lager that uses the same types of hops (Hallertau and Tettnang) commonly used at the St. Louis brewery during the 19th century. The beer is brewed in St. Louis by brewmaster Jim Bicklein and was developed in collaboration with Katie Rippel from Fort Collins.
- Budweiser Small Batch 43229 (Ohio): A light-amber lager using eight different types of hops with 6% ABV. The beer is brewed in Columbus, Ohio, and was the brainchild of the brewery's general manager, Kevin Lee and developed with assistant brewmasters Travis Burge and Tyler Hunter.
- Budweiser Small Batch 23185 (Virginia): A light-amber all-malt bourbon cask lager aged on bourbon staves and vanilla beans and with an ABV of 5.5%. The beer is brewed by Daniel Westmoreland in Williamsburg and was developed in collaboration with Mike Anderson in Jacksonville and Dan Kahn in Cartersville.
- Budweiser Small Batch 13027 (New York): A bright-golden lager brewed with six imported and domestic hops and with an ABV of 7%. The beer is brewed in Baldwinsville, N.Y., by brewmaster Nick Mills in consult with general manager Steve McCormick.
- Budweiser Small Batch 80524 (Colorado): A deep-gold, filtered wheat beer with 5.2% ABV using lemon peel, orange peel and coriander. The beer is brewed by Katie Rippel in Fort Collins and was developed by Nick Mills in Baldwinsville, Otto Kuhn in Merrimack and Tiago Darocha in Newark.
"The key to this project was the common yeast, which is a very important and often under-appreciated contributor to the flavor and aroma of beer," said Jane Killebrew-Galeski, director of brewing, quality and innovation for A-B. "We are proud of all these beers--the variety and the quality--but we want consumer feedback. So, we're looking forward to what we hear when we sample this summer. Our objective is to allow our brewmasters to show some creativity, but the beers must fit the hallmarks the Budweiser brand is respected for, such as quality and consistency, and have a very crisp and clean taste."
The six sampler beers also will be sampled during "Budweiser Made in America" over Labor Day weekend in Philadelphia. The two-day music festival benefits United Way and will cap off a summer of music parties in cities across America in which Budweiser will invite its Facebook fans to experience local bands and artists and sample some of these new beers along with local food in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Denver, Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago, Cincinnati, Nashville, Miami, Boston and New York City.
Based in St. Louis, A-B brews Budweiser and Bud Light, among other brands. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of global brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev.
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