Beer history is a fragile thing. So much of it has been lost to time because objects, artifacts, and recipes lacked a caretaker at a crucial time. Closings can happen quickly, and beer history is simply swept aside or discarded.<\/p>\n
Fast forward to today. Craft brewers are increasingly using their platforms\u2014including beer labels, draught chalkboards, or stories told by staff\u2014to remind their customers of beer\u2019s ties to the past. Many modern craft brewers have chosen to restore and preserve the stories\u2014and beers\u2014of the brewers who have come before them.<\/p>\n
For Upland Brewing, the brewery\u2019s 15th anniversary was a reason to delve into Indiana\u2019s brewing history. Upland Brewing director Patrick Lynch says that the brewery wanted to do something special for its home state, and their research pointed them toward a historical beer called Champagne Velvet from the former Terre Haute Brewing Company (THBC).<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if you don\u2019t know anything about the Champagne Velvet story, when you see the name, it still catches your eye, catches your ear.\u201d Lynch and the team at Upland thought reviving Champagne Velvet for their anniversary would celebrate their state and bring the community together.<\/p>\n
In researching Champagne Velvet\u2014a pre-Prohibition Pilsner whose tagline was \u201cthe beer with the million dollar flavor\u201d\u2014Lynch discovered that the beer was \u201cthe most successful brand to come out of Indiana.\u201d It turns out that Terre Haute Brewing had a storied history in the Hoosier State, and there was already a movement to bring the beer back to life.<\/p>\n
![\"champagne](\"https:\/\/cdn.craftbeer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/20211210105858\/champagne-velvet.jpg\")
Lynch and the Upland team investigated Champagne Velvet\u2019s past and discovered that the beer had enjoyed two heydays in Indiana and beyond. The story of Champagne Velvet is tied to the Terre Haute Brewing Company, originally founded in 1837. By 1880, Terre Haute Brewing was brewing 30,000 barrels of beer\u2014double what the team is producing today at Upland.<\/p>\n
By 1902, when the brewery released Champagne Velvet for the first time, THBC was producing more than 100,000 barrels, making it one of the leading U.S. breweries before Prohibition. Following Prohibition, the brewery reopened with new owners, this time in the boom days of World War II. THBC saw a revival after Prohibition and quickly grew to more than 500,000 barrels per year. In 1943, THBC was the 25th largest brewery in the U.S. Champagne Velvet had quite a following, it seems.<\/p>\n
As Lynch and the team at Upland explored how to revive the brand, they discovered that someone already owned the rights to Champagne Velvet. Terre Haute historian and beer enthusiast Mike Rowe wanted to open a bar that paid homage to the THBC brewing history. Rowe had purchased the rights from Pabst Brewing, which had owned THBC beers previously. However, Upland and Rowe were able to come to an agreement. \u201c[Rowe] wanted a caretaker for Champagne Velvet who would have the passion to continue the legacy and stay true,\u201d said Lynch. \u201cHe was looking for someone to take Champagne Velvet to the next level. We were able to form a nice partnership with him: we\u2019re able to brew the beer, and he\u2019s happy to see the beer still being brewed.\u201d<\/p>\n
With Rowe\u2019s help, Lynch was also able to obtain the vintage recipe to brew Champagne Velvet. \u201c[Rowe] was flipping through a textbook that Terre Haute brewer Walter Braun owned in the 1900s, and a little slip of paper fell out with handwritten notes for what was clearly a beer recipe,\u201d Lynch recounted. \u201cThat\u2019s what we have turned into the Champagne Velvet recipe as best we can.\u201d The note mentioned \u201cthe water-to-grist ratio and the corn-to-barley ratio, the starting gravity, and some information about what this beer would be. It didn\u2019t mention hops or yeast, so that\u2019s where the combination of staying true to that handwritten note and historical research played into each other.\u201d With the recipe as a guide, Lynch and the Upland team brewed the Pilsner and released it for their anniversary, adding pre-Prohibition malt from a local malthouse north of Indianapolis<\/p>\n
Although Upland is based out of Bloomington\u2014about 60 miles from Terre Haute\u2014Lynch said the local community has embraced the beer, and Champagne Velvet has gone on to limited national distribution.<\/p>\n
\u201cChampagne Velvet is what national markets are clamoring for,\u201d said Lynch. \u201cIt\u2019s our number two brand right now, behind our Dragonfly IPA. It\u2019s great seeing the response from our customers\u2014the name grabs your attention, the story grabs your attention, and then the beer holds your attention once you try it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coppertail Brewing owner Kent Bailey has a soft spot in his heart for Florida\u2019s historical breweries, often scouring the internet to learn more about his state\u2019s brewing past.<\/p>\n
As his Tampa-based brewery was seeking to develop a new brand of light lager perfect for enjoying the Florida lifestyle\u2014whether at the state\u2019s beaches, rivers, the Daytona Speedway, or at Raymond James Stadium\u2014branding from a beer that had come and gone decades prior resonated with Bailey. That\u2019s what led him to purchase the rights to Florida Special, a brand from the former Southern Brewing Company. The historical brewery was born in Tampa after Prohibition and operated until the industrial beer consolidation of the 1960s.<\/p>\n
Acquiring the brand rights to Florida Special was the beginning of a project, according to Coppertail\u2019s chief operating officer, Ken Foutch. Bailey ended up purchasing the rights to Florida Special, including the entire branding from post-Prohibition start to 1960s finish.<\/p>\n
The team combed through the different logos from Southern Brewing Company, deciding on which iteration of Florida Special to choose from, said Foutch. Southern Brewing had been \u201cin business for 50 years and it\u2019s fun to look at their brand specifically in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s\u2014you can see how it evolved,\u201d said Foutch. \u201cAt one point, it kind of had a World War II vibe from that era. At another point, the brand looked like Lone Star looks today, so we took some pieces from their world and then looked at nostalgic brands, some that hardly exist anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the purchase of Florida Special\u2019s rights did not include a recipe, Foutch and his team got to work on shaping their Florida lager. Foutch remembers, \u201cThe beer [that would become Florida Special] started out as a beer called Dock Beer\u2014brewed just for employees and when they\u2019re getting off work.\u201d Coppertail\u2019s team loves its IPAs and their special American Trippel, but the appeal of Dock Beer was universal. \u201cWe all love crispy, light lagers for having one or two after work.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the rights to Florida Special and the recipe for Dock Beer, Coppertail would craft a brand of light lager that would anchor the brewery\u2019s core beers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt all evolved from Dock Beer,\u201d says Foutch. \u201cAnd even since the inception of Florida Special, it\u2019s still changing. We\u2019re still seeking the perfect recipe for this beer.\u201d<\/p>\n
The brewing team recently changed the yeast strain to reduce sulfur, and as a result, \u201cIt\u2019s a little crisper and cleaner. We\u2019re sticking with noble hops and still trying to stay traditional.\u201d Florida special checks in at 3.8 percent alcohol by volume.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of those crispy boys, a beer-flavored beer\u2014that\u2019s my favorite way to put it,\u201d said Foutch. \u201cIt\u2019s great to drink whether you\u2019re finishing cutting the grass, out on the golf course, or anywhere in the Sunshine State.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Yazoo Brewing, restoring a piece of Tennessee\u2019s past is a source of pride for owner Linus Hall: the production of storied brand Gerst Amber has returned to Nashville.<\/p>\n
The Gerst Brewery was one of the largest in the South at the beginning of the 1900s. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to find actual production volumes, but I believe at its heyday, it was producing around 250,000 barrels a year,\u201d said Hall. \u201cThe brewery in Nashville occupied four city blocks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the Gerst Brewery closed in 1954, and the Gerst family turned to running a restaurant to continue sharing its German heritage with Nashville. When they closed the Gerst Haus in the 1980s, the family sold the rights to local restaurateurs Jim and Jerry Chandler. The Chandlers contracted with brewers in Pennsylvania and Indiana to make Gersts\u2019 beer, but one brewery closed and the other was inconsistent with the beer.<\/p>\n
Hall remembers that time. \u201cWe were moving Yazoo\u2019s brewery from our original location at Marathon Motorworks to a much bigger building in the Gulch area of Nashville,\u201d he recalls. \u201cWith more space and a new, bigger brewing system, I approached them with the idea of bringing Gerst beer back to Nashville.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once he worked out an arrangement with the Chandlers, Hall and the Yazoo team began bringing the Gerst recipe into the 21st century. Hall recalls, \u201cWe did not have any recipes, and in any case, modern malts and hops are much different than what brewers back then were using. Even if we had an original recipe, I am not sure we would have produced the same beer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Modernizing \u00a0the recipe took \u201cmany 10-gallon test batches on my old homebrew system,\u201d and attention to detail in each one. After producing each batch, the team tasted, critiqued, and adjusted.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the end, we made a light-bodied amber ale, with German Munich malts and a touch of flaked corn, as many U.S. brewers were using at the turn of the century.\u201d All of this was accomplished with no written recipe\u2014just recollections of how the beer looked and tasted.<\/p>\n
In the end, when Hall and the Yazoo team had nailed down the final recipe, Gerst Amber returned to the Gerst Haus with fanfare and celebration. \u201c\u2018I\u2019m very proud of bringing it back to being brewed in Nashville again,\u201d Hall said. \u201cWhen we tapped the first ceremonial keg, we invited the mayor and all the local media. I had a German beer stein with Mayor Karl Dean\u2019s name engraved on it, and when I offered the first beer to him, he made a short speech to commemorate the occasion, making reference to tying the future of Nashville brewing to its famous past.\u201d<\/p>\n
That final recipe is available year-round through Yazoo. \u201cNashville beer drinkers have really taken to Gerst Amber,\u201d Hall said. \u201cIt\u2019s now one of our consistent bestsellers.\u201d<\/p>\n
When a young Vinnie Cilurzo moved to Santa Rosa, Calif. in the 1990s, he heard stories about an area beermaker called Grace Brothers Brewery. At one point, the brewery had a presence in both southern and northern California, brewing in Los Angeles as well as Santa Rosa, Cilurzo recalls.<\/p>\n
Cilurzo had begun working for Russian River Brewing until the brewery\u2019s owner, Korbel, decided to exit the beer business. Vinnie and his wife, Natalie, formed a team that purchased the rights to Russian River Brewing, opening a small brewpub in Santa Rosa.<\/p>\n
Even when he had the new brewery up and running, \u201cGrace Brothers Brewery kind of hung there in the back of my mind,\u201d said Cilurzo.<\/p>\n
He researched more about the brewery and discovered a brand called Happy Hops. \u201cIt has that great artwork\u2014that\u2019s one of the coolest things about these retro brands.\u201d After additional research into Sonoma County\u2019s past\u2014the area used to be one of the hop-growing capitals of America before the Pacific Northwest emerged as the epicenter\u2014and coming across the rosy-cheeked hop adorning the Happy Hops label, Cilurzo knew he wanted to incorporate that beer into the Russian River family.<\/p>\n
As with many other historical brands, Happy Hops (and eventually Velvet Glow Pilsner, another Grace Brothers brand) had no official recipes that came with the branding. This was no surprise to Cilurzo.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to think back to that era which is both pre- and post-Prohibition,\u201d said Cilurzo. \u201cThese beers were around post-Prohibition, but there wasn\u2019t anything else but industrial lager.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked further into the brewery\u2019s history and found that, \u201cGrace Brothers had 50 or 60 labels, but there wasn\u2019t much to really build with recipes.\u201d Cilurzo knew the brand would tell a story, but the liquid had to speak for itself.<\/p>\n
Cilurzo and his team rolled up their sleeves and got to work. \u201cWe brewed a beer called Happy Hops, probably in 2009 or 2010, with 100 percent experimental hop HBC 369, which eventually became Mosaic. Happy Hops was an all-Mosaic pale ale to start.\u201d<\/p>\n
After trademarking the assets and artwork from the historical beer, Cilurzo and the Russian River team eventually decided to make changes from that first batch in 2009. Around 2015, Happy Hops morphed from a pale ale to an IPA. After all, Cilurzo says, \u201ca beer with a name like Happy Hops should have an even more expressive hop note to it. So I started bringing in other hops into the mix. Instead of being just Mosaic, it\u2019s got Strata, which at the time was an experimental, some Simcoe, Centennial, Brewer\u2019s Gold, Amarillo, and a handful of others. That\u2019s where it is and now Happy Hops is a year-round beer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Happy Hops IPA and Velvet Glow Pilsner both have a solid place in the Russian River Brewing lineup. Cilurzo said he loves \u201cthe history and referencing an old brand and keeping a bit of Sonoma County\u2019s history alive. We have two brewpubs and two gift shops and it\u2019s a nice way to tell some cool historical stories. I feel like it\u2019s our duty as brewers to keep the history going\u2014to remind the next generation of the beer drinkers and brewers who came before us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Beer history is a fragile thing. So much of it has been lost to time because objects, artifacts, and recipes lacked a caretaker at a crucial time. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5459,"featured_media":111946,"sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sticky_collection":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"82375,94101,1582,98273,25353,83635","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[480,676,4812],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-editors-picks","category-full-pour"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n