Jordan, MN
Population: 5,873
http://roetsjordanbrewery.com/ 

It sounds like the start of a bad joke: How many landslides does it take to start a brewery? The historic Jordan Brewery was built in 1866 and has survived a multitude of tribulations: prohibition, a fire, abandonment and plans to tear it down. Built at the base of a river bluff where caves could be carved into the hillside to lager beer, its location would ultimately be its downfall. 

Tim Roets was knocked out at first sight and immediately began planning to bring brewing back to Jordan, MN. A year later and one day before he placed his brewery equipment order, soaking rains loosed a massive chunk of the hill; sending a deluge of mud, trees and rock tumbling and crashing through the back wall of the building. No one was hurt, but the dream of opening a brewery appeared dead.

But the community of Jordan was determined to bring brewing back to the city to capitalize on the craft brewing trend that has been revitalizing dilapidated buildings and tourism in towns just like it all across the country. With the city’s help, Tim was able to move his plans into a vacated library building literally across the street. The library itself was converted from a 1940's bank and the vault is still there in the basement – perhaps a place to lager after all?

Tim, with his two sons Dylan and P.J., remodeled their plans and were finally able to open Roets Jordan Brewery late last year. Tim explains, “For over 150 years, several different families bought the breweries in Jordan, hung their family name on the shingle and started brewing. We did the same thing.” 

They had previous professional experience as mead and cidermakers, and Tim had been a successful and awarded homebrewer, but this is their first commercial brewery undertaking. Joining their adventure is a brewing school intern and assistant brewer Jeff Malek who is a maltster by trade at nearby Rahr Malting.

The change in location also meant reconfiguring the brewing system he had spent months designing. In a bold move, he changed the design completely and opted to go for an all-electric brewhouse. Tim says, “We opened with a 3.5BBL Brewhouse, 8 x 3.5BBL Fermentors and 3 x 3.5BBL Brites. We have space to more than double that capacity, and sourcing more equipment and further expansion of the Brewhouse is in process now.”

Support from locals was strong right out of the gate with the taproom packed most of the time. For now, they are focusing on taproom sales, but plan to eventually do some self-distribution locally in the near future. When asked about his brewing philosophy Tim simply says, “Make good beer. With the smaller brewhouse, we'll have the opportunity to try many different styles, but we tend to lean towards more balanced and sessionable beers.” 

The biggest difference between homebrewing and professional brewing? “It becomes your job, so you blow a good hobby. Now I play guitar for sanity...get a hobby.” Tim advises. 

Their slogan is simple and direct: "Drink Roets Beer” If you’re ever in the area, we would recommend doing just that.

Malthouse #6 Premium Pilsner, a collaboration between Rahr Malting Co. and Badger Hill Brewing of Shakopee, was brewed to commemorate the successful commissioning of Rahr’s new Malthouse #6. 

The Premium Pilsner malt utilized for this beer was the first batch from Malthouse #6, made from Pinnacle barley, a two-row variety developed by the NDSU Barley Breeding Program.

BSG designed the label artwork and Badger Hill hosted a release party for the first kegs of Malthouse #6 Premium Pilsner at the brewery taproom in Shakopee.

SHAKOPEE, MN – The Rahr Technical Center Brewery at Rahr Malting Co.’s Shakopee campus is now up and running. The brewery will produce beer for R&D, conducting product evaluations, and host demonstrations for visiting brewery customers who purchase ingredients from the Shakopee-based maltster and its distribution arm Brewers Supply Group (BSG).

The brewery was built as part of Rahr Corporation’s 2015-2016 expansion project, which also included construction of a technical center and malt laboratory, as well as a new 115,000 square foot malt house which made Rahr’s Shakopee headquarters the largest single-site malting facility in the world.

The centerpiece of the brewery is a state-of-the-art brewhouse from Esau & Hueber, a worldwide leader in brewery design. The brewery has a capacity of 2.5 barrels.

“The mission of the brewery is to serve as a pilot facility,” says head brewer and Product Development Manager  Mike Miziorko , “allowing Rahr and BSG to perform real-world trials on their malts, hops, yeasts, and other ingredients. It also lets us collaborate creatively with visiting brewers and suppliers.”

The first batches of beer produced on the new system include a Weissbier, a Bavarian-style Helles lager, a pale ale, and an English brown ale, with many others to follow. “One of my very favorite beer styles is a pale-colored German ale called Kölsch,” says Miziorko. “So I think you can expect a bunch of those as well.” 

The 2017 Craft Brewers Conference in Washington D.C. was a great success, and BSG was so happy to be there with 13,000 of our friends and colleagues for the premier gathering of craft brewers in the world. We believe there's great value in meeting your suppliers face to face over a beer, and we're excited to bring that opportunity from all over the globe to the BrewExpo America each year. Below are just a few of our highlights from D.C - hope to see you in Nashville in 2018! 

Our West Coast Regional Sales Director Peter Hoey teamed with Half Moon Bay Brewing Co. to brew a double IPA for San Francisco Beer Week using BSG ingredients, including our variety-specific hop extracts.

The beer, titled I Need A Miracle, features Cashmere hops at a ratio of 2 lbs/bbl in the whirlpool.

If you’re there this weekend, make sure to get some of this intensity! There will be a release event on Saturday the 11th at Pacific Standard in Berkeley and it will make an appearance at The Bistro double IPA Festival and opening Gala. More release info can be found here.

I Need A Miracle Double IPA

9.0% abv, 90 ibus.

Grist:

48.4% Weyermann® Premium Pils

48.4% Simpsons Best Pale Ale

3.2% Gambrinus Honey Malt

Hops:

Citra, El Dorado extract, El Dorado and Mosaic.Cashmere and Mosaic Flowers.

Dry hopped with Citra Simcoe and Mosaic. 

Idaho 7 burst onto the scene in 2015 with a sensory profile that reminded some of Mosaic in its multifaceted character. By turns it seems to show pine, tropical fruit, citrus, and tea leaf. You may have first tasted it in Sierra Nevada’s single hop series, but it’s becoming much more commonly seen in flights and pints all over the country.

An experimental variety with undisclosed heritage bred at the Jackson Hop Farm in Wilder, ID, Idaho 7 is named for its home state. It’s known for late maturity in the field but good yields of up to 2200 lbs/acre.

One day at the beginning of this year we received a plain brown box from hop country with plain foil bags inscribed in plain black Sharpie - a mix of pelletized and whole Idaho 7 from the first crop. An ad hoc hop-rubbing committee was formed on the spot and noted powerful aromas of pungently dank balsam fir, juicy fruit gum, and red grapefruit. Fingertips became thoroughly yellow and sticky – both the pellets and the cones had a tangibly high quantity of aromatic oils.

That high oil content makes Idaho 7 a natural finishing, whirlpool, and dry hopping all-star, where it can deliver most strongly on its complex and powerful character. Expect overtones of resiny pine needles with big notes of pungent tropical fruit and citrus (think apricot, orange, red grapefruit, papaya) and earthy/fruity suggestions of black tea leaves.

Idaho 7 hops are available on spot and for contracting through BSG – please contact your sales manager for details.

(updated January 12, 2017)

Please watch this page for updates.

Please feel free to contact your CSR or Sales Manager with any questions or concerns. We would like to thank you for your business, and we look forward to working with you in 2017 and beyond.

Cheers!

Named after Mt. Kazbek, a dormant stratovolcano in Georgia’s Caucasus Mountains, Kazbek hops have seen increased acreage every season in the Czech Republic since their release in 2008.

Bred from Saaz and a wild landrace hop from the Caucasus, Kazbek exhibits late maturity in the field but good hardiness and better yields than its Saaz parent at 2100-3000 kg/ha.

Its aroma and flavor are similar to Saaz, but turned up to 11. Kazbek can show a dominant bright citrus note of lemon or grapefruit, but never obscures the quintessential mixture of floral and earthy spice of its Saaz parent.

Kazbek’s alpha acid and oil content is higher than Saaz as well, with a range of 5-8% aa and 0.9-1.8 mL/100g being typical. Myrcene (40-50%) and humulene (20-35%) make up the major fractions of the oil, contributing to the prominent citrus and fruity aspects of Kazbek’s profile. 

In the brewhouse Kazbek is favored for aroma and flavor additions; Czech brewers use it for late additions in a variety of lagers. Craft brewers in the US and elsewhere have been putting it to use as a finishing or dry hop for lagers, pale ales, wheat beers, and Belgian-style ales. You may have had Kazbek in: 

Fair State Keller Kazbek

Summit Brewing Baltic Pale Ale

Jester King/Live Oak Kollaborationsbier

Triple Rock Belgian Czech

Kazbek hops are available on spot and for contracting through BSG – please contact your sales manager for details.

Beer is an agricultural product, and that normal variances in crop year, variety, and growing region of raw materials can have a big impact in the brewhouse, cellar, and shelf.

That’s why BSG has made it easier than ever to access certificates of analysis for our products on our website. Use your desktop or mobile device at any time to get lot-specific analyses for the malt and hops in your formulations.

BSG Hops - https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/HopAnalysis

Lot-specific values to fine-tune your hop bill. The link to our Hop COA Lookup is embedded in the header of every page on bsgcraftbrewing.com.  Select country of origin, variety, and type (cone or pellet) from the dropdowns, then enter the QR code or lot number printed on each hop box or bag.

Note:  at this time of this writing, hop COA lookup is available for 2016 crop year or newer.

BSG Malts - https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/MaltAnalysis

Brewing values for malts from Crisp Malting Group, Malting Company of Ireland, Rahr Malting Co., Simpsons Malt, and Weyermann®. Like the Hop COA, the link to our Malt Lot Analysis is embedded in the header of every page on bsgcraftbrewing.com.  Select the maltster and product from the dropdowns, then enter the lot number from the sack.

Other options from suppliers:

Crisp Malting Group’s COA Lookup App

Crisp began printing QR codes directly onto bag labels at the end of 2015. The QR codes link through to the analyses for individual batches of malt, allowing customers easier access to this important information. The Crisp app is required to scan the QR codes printed on Crisp malt sack labels.

Simpsons Malts’ new website 

Although the analyses provided are general, Simpsons’ revamped website (launched in November 2016) puts users just one click away from specs on their full line of brewing and distilling malts.

If you cannot find the malt or hop lot analysis you are looking for, please call a Customer Service Representative at 800-374-2739, or reach them by email at csr@bsgcraft.com.

“It used to be that a brewery worth its chops had to have an IPA,” says BSG Midwest Sales Director Chris German, “now it’s Pils.” 

The 2016 GABF would seem to support this, with record numbers of entries in the pale lager categories.

Malt color – as well as many flavor compounds – are created in the kiln. Lower temperatures and shorter kiln times mean paler malts that let the milder noble hops  typically used for pale lagers have more of a voice in the glass.

But the brewing applications of low-color malts don’t stop at Pilsner and Helles. 

“Session IPA and Pils are kissing cousins,” German continues. “Balanced but hoppy. Drinkable. But where Pils has a track record of 180 years of popularity, session IPA is maybe 5 years old. The ‘flavor volume’ is louder, but the malt still has to be interesting.” 

A low-color base malt can be a great tool for portfolio differentiation, too. With a visual connotation of approachability and  lightness, a low-color malt can help surprise  increasingly been-there, done-that craft drinkers. 

“Think of double IPA” says German. “Low color but tons of flavor. It’s a cool trick to have a beer that surprises you – tells you with your eyes what to expect, and when you drink it it’s something pleasantly different.”

Selected Low-Color Malts 

Crisp Extra Pale Maris Otter

Patagonia Extra Pale Malt

Simpsons Low Color Maris Otter

Weyermann  Premium Pilsner