Brewers toasting chance to produce potent beers
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Photo by CONTRIBUTED PHOTOPat Daniels, brewer at Market Garden Brewery, checks on a Belgian Quadrupel style brew. At an ABV of 18%, the beer will be one of the brewery's first exceptionally high-gravity offerings.
There’s an extreme beer scene ready to pour into Northeast Ohio.
Gov. John Kasich recently popped the cap on laws restricting the sale of beers stronger than 12% alcohol by volume in Ohio. Since then, local brewers have been quick to take advantage, with many preparing their first high-alcohol beers that should be ready for taps later this summer.
Sam McNulty, owner of Market Garden Brewery and Nano Brew Cleveland, said that while it isn’t a change anyone expects to revolutionize the beer business here, it does allow brewers to quench consumer thirst for these specialty suds at a time when interest in craft beer is overflowing.
For businesses, that’s that key motivation.
Yet, for brewers themselves, it’s also a chance to flex their craft beer muscles. Some will want to try their hand at these extreme beers simply because now, they can.
“It’s like, why did I climb the mountain? Because it was there,” McNulty said.
Market Garden brewmaster Andy Tveekrem was eager to make his first high-gravity beer, McNulty said. (Gravity refers to a beer’s density relative to water, which grows with the amount of dissolved sugars that are converted to alcohol.)
Just last week, they finished brewing what will be their first super-potent offering: a Belgian Quadrupel expected to reach an ABV of 18%. The brew will also have a welcomed home at McNulty’s Bier Markt, which focuses on Belgian beers.
That beer, which will be served in a snifter with 5-ounce pours, will act as a litmus test for demand.
“This is definitely our test market beer,” McNulty said. “We’re going to see how our guests like it, what they think of it, what food it pairs well with. But there will definitely be more down the road. We’ll just see how this one does and tweak it from there.”
A long time coming
But in late May, Kasich signed off on HB 37, which removed the 12% limit. Several different versions of bills aimed at raising the cap preceded this one, but didn’t gain traction.
Now, those higher ABV beers will be permitted for sale in Ohio starting Aug. 31 (it takes 90 days from signing until the change officially goes into effect).
West Virginia is the only state bordering Ohio, and one of just a dozen in the country, that still has an ABV limit.
While there’s a niche market for high-gravity beers, which are obviously stronger and therefore much less quaffable than their less-potent counterparts, those consumers would just get their strong beers from elsewhere.
“Customers were just crossing the border and bringing these high-gravity beers back to the state,” Perko said. “Besides this limiting their creativity, when brewers realized their customers really wanted this, they began to push for a change.”
Some brewers were known to simply skirt the prohibitive law anyway, Perko said. If a brew was supposed to come under the 12% ABV threshold but was actually a bit stronger, some would just serve it anyway.
Even though it’s not expected to bring a financial windfall to the beer industry — besides generally appealing to beer enthusiasts more than casual drinkers, high-ABV beer is more expensive and time consuming to make and the yields are lower, which translates to a higher tab for drinkers — it still lets bars, restaurants and retailers capture those sales in Ohio.
“Brewers definitely wouldn’t be investing time and efforts into this if they don’t think the market were ready to accept the demand,” Perko said.
Changing the ABV law was, in fact, a “hugely” consumer-driven issue, said Mary MacDonald, executive director of the Ohio Craft Brewers Association.
“No one is really counting on their whole business model being high ABV beers. But we’re still really excited they’ve raised the ABV,” MacDonald said. “It’s going to be good for brewers and consumers, and we’re excited to see where that takes us.”
Unkinking the craft beer hose
Besides local brewers, big beer names seem to have their sights set on Ohio for distribution now that the law has been changed.
The Boston Beer Co., known for its flagship Samuel Adams brand, is one of those.
The company brews a line of high-gravity beers called “Samuel Adams Utopias,” which have been available for years in other states and have reached ABV levels above 30%. They’re described as rich, uncarbonated beers with wood, toffee, cocoa, raisin and maple aromas meant to be savored in two-ounce pours like a fine cognac or port.
“We can’t wait to bring drinkers in Ohio one of our most amazing beers, Samuel Adams Utopias,” said Samuel Adams brewer and founder Jim Koch in an email. “Now that the ABV limit has been lifted, we hope to offer this unique drinking experience to Ohioans in the near future.”
Ron Shea, founder of the 8-month-old R. Shea Brewing in Akron, said he recently finished brewing a barley wine — a type of strong ale brewed like beer that uses honey as a fermentable adjunct to reach higher alcohol levels — that should come out around 15% ABV and will be called “Gravitation.”
“It’s definitely a technological thing,” Shea said. “How can I do this? These beers are great to age. And how can I keep the yeast working? There are a lot of things to play around with. That’s part of my motivation.”
Because the barley wines tend to lend themselves to barrel aging, he says it’s more likely to be bottled and sold, although it could potentially be on tap.
“Overall, it’s great for variety to keep one or two offerings of something over 12%,” Shea said. “This is what the consumer wants. When they get it, we will see how they feel about it.”
Overall, brewers here eagerly anticipate a thirst for the high-strength beer market.
“This is really exciting and could very well lead to a niche that we’re not even aware exists,” McNulty said. “Brewers in this state had one hand tied behind their back with this legislation, which has been pinching the craft beer hose. When you remove that, there’s going to be a surge of economic energy. And that can lead to great things.”
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