June 15th, 2010
The Harpoon Brewery Announces the 32nd 100 Barrel Series Beer, Pott’s Landbier
The Harpoon Brewery Announces the 32nd 100 Barrel Series Beer, Pott’s Landbier
A Collaboration with Pott’s Brauerei of Oelde, Germany
BOSTON, MA (June 15, 2010) – Yesterday morning the Harpoon Brewery welcomed Joerg Pott to the Boston brewery to celebrate the release – and to help bottle – a beer he inspired from nearly 4,000 miles away. Joerg is the youngest in a long lineage of brewers from a centuries-old German brewery called Pott’s Brauerei, and the inspiration behind the 32nd offering of the Harpoon 100 Barrel Series, Pott’s Landbier.
Joerg first visited Harpoon back in 2003 when a group of German brewers, including Joerg and his father Rainer Pott of Pott’s Brauerei, took a tour of American breweries. A few years later, Joerg returned to Harpoon for the summer of 2007 to spend time at the brewery and learn more about American craft beer. During Joerg’s 3-month tenure at Harpoon, the idea of a beer collaboration between breweries was mentioned often, but the timing was never quite right for both brewers – until now. Today, June 14th, Pott’s Landbier will be bottled at Harpoon’s Boston brewery. Joerg Pott and Pott Brauerei Master Brewer Peter Wienstroer have made a special trip to Boston to celebrate the release and to work on the bottling line to help bottle the beer.
Peter Wienstroer worked with Harpoon’s Head Brewer, Todd Charbonneau, to create the recipe and brew this beer. Pott’s Landbier, or “country beer,” is a traditional session lager with a malty backbone made up of a blend of German and North American malts. The smooth malt character is tempered by the German bittering hop Magnum, which lends a clean, crisp balance. The beer is finished with more German hops for a spicy, herbal palate and aroma. The beer is currently being fermented with Pott’s lager yeast, imbuing 240 years of German brewing tradition to this Boston-brewed beer.
This November Harpoon President and Co-Founder, Dan Kenary, and Harpoon Chief Brewing Officer, Al Marzi, will fly to Oelde, Germany to celebrate a Harpoon beer that will be brewed at the Pott’s Brauerei, coming full circle with the collaboration. Beer collaborations are a growing trend in the craft beer industry. Collaborating not only offers brewers the opportunity to test out new brewing techniques, ingredients, and beer styles, it also provides the curious beer drinker a chance to experience something unique and special.
Throughout the years Harpoon brewers have collaborated on several special release beers. In 2007 the brewery crafted a Danish Farmhouse Ale named Refsvindinge Private Stock with John Rasmussen, a 4th generation brewer from the Refsvindinge Brewery located just outside of Copenhagen. In 2008 Harpoon collaborated with another brewer across the pond, brewing Steve Stewart’s Firth of Forth Ale with Steve Stewart, a Scottish brewery owner and Brewmaster. Interestingly, Stewart had interned at Harpoon as part of a brewer exchange program 10 years prior to brewing this beer, just as Joerg Pott had been an intern at Harpoon. Finally, in a different sort of collaboration, earlier this year Harpoon released Island Creek Oyster Stout, a product of the friendship between Harpoon brewers and the Island Creek Oysters oyster farmers. Each of the aforementioned beers was an offering from the Harpoon 100 Barrel Series.
The Harpoon 100 Barrel Series Pott’s Landbier will be available in select locations in 22 oz. bottles and on draft beginning the week of June 14th. A live chat about the beer with Joerg Pott of Pott’s Brauerei will take place on the Harpoon website (www.harpoonbrewery.com) today at noon.
Harpoon 100 Barrel Series Pott’s Landbier Specifications:
O.G.: 12
I.B.U.: 30
ABV: 4.8%
For additional information about the Harpoon Brewery and the Harpoon 100 Barrel Series, please contact Liz Melby at lmelby@harpoonbrewery.com.
About the Harpoon 100 Barrel Series:
Harpoon introduced the 100 Barrel Series in 2003 to showcase the individual brewing talents of their brewers. Every couple months, a different Harpoon brewer is invited to choose a style of beer, formulate the recipe, and brew the beer. That brewer’s signature can be found on the bottle label. The beers in the series are one-offs; they are brewed in limited batches and are available only until the batch sells out. Since the series began 7 years ago, 31 different styles of beer have been brewed. For a complete list of beers that have been released as part of the 100 Barrel Series, visit http://www.harpoonbrewery.com/100barrel.
About the Harpoon Brewery:
The Harpoon Brewery was founded by beers lovers, Rich Doyle and Dan Kenary. In 1986 Harpoon was issued Brewing Permit #001 by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, since it was the first brewery to brew commercially in the state after a dormant period of about 25 years. Harpoon’s line of craft beer features its award-winning IPA and UFO Hefeweizen beers, along with four special seasonal selections. In 2000 Harpoon purchased a second brewery in Windsor, VT, making Harpoon the 10th largest craft brewer in the US. Harpoon has since introduced two lines of limited edition beers, the 100 Barrel Series and the Leviathan Series, as well as the all-natural Harpoon Cider made from freshly pressed, local apples. For more information about Harpoon beers and visiting the breweries, visit www.harpoonbrewery.com.