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aul Thomas of Bitterroot Brewing made up a batch of imperial IPA more to celebrate the brewery’s 11th anniversary, calling it, appropriately, 11PA. “I think it’s great the bill passed, Thomas said. “It will be nice to formulate traditionally high-alcohol beers without having to worry about keeping them under 8.75 percent.” In a world where the art of brewing beer is achieving new heights all the time, it won’t be long before the 14 percent limit is considered low. Already, there are beers like Samuel Adams’ Utopias that have broken the 25 percent alcohol by volume barrier. Craig Koontz, brewer at Tamarack Brewing Co. in Lakeside, sees the new alcohol limit as a new level of responsibility for both the brewer and the consumer. “While I mention the popularity of high-gravity beers,” Koontz said, “I also want to say that these styles will most likely be seasonal and/or limited offerings. Recipe ingredients can more than double the cost of making these beers. I wouldn’t be surprised to see special pricing for these beers, but they are worth it.”
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any brewers won’t be serving the big beers in pint glasses. Instead, they will offer tastes in small glasses made for enjoying the full beer taste and smell experience. Tim O’Leary, owner of Kettlehouse Brewing Co., plans to offer his first big beer, Brick and Mortar Imperial Porter, an 11 percent ABV monster, in small beer glasses reminiscent of brandy snifters. The beer, which pours dark with a tan head is a close relative to the brewery’s famous Cold Smoke Scotch Ale, but an addition of Belgian yeast gives the beer some spice characteristics not unlike clove and licorice. The high alcohol content of the beer is masked by layers and layers of malty richness and yeast-produced spiciness, making for a bold and unique beer. Even though many brewers will be free to create anything they like, most brewers are just happy to be able to make beer consistent with styles as they were defined hundreds of years ago. “It’s nice to be able to brew these beers to style,” Matt Long of Big Sky Brewing Co. said. “Like a barley wine or an imperial stout or any strong Belgian golden ale or triple, you can’t really do it unless you have that alcohol content.”
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Tim Akimoff is digital manager of the Missoulian and blogs at GrizzlyGrowler.com. Reach him at (406) 523-5202 or by e-mail at takimoff@lee.net. missoula.com magazine
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