Larry Sidor, Deschutes brewmaster, unloads malted barley with John McDonald, founder and president of Boulevard, and Steven Pauwels, Boulevard brewmaster
Collaborations between craft breweries reinforce all aspects that make our industry unique. We can’t think of another industry where two or more seemingly competitive companies come together to create a singular product. While there is shelf space and tap handles to compete for in retail, most behind-the-scenes elements of our industry (such as brewing and lab analysis) are friendly among breweries. Making collaboration beers is about brewers that have great respect for each other coming together to create something that showcases each other’s strengths in a unified beer. Our second of this effort, Collaboration No. 2 which hits markets this July, showcases Deschutes’ great knowledge of hops and our expertise in brewing Belgian-style beers.
In the case of Boulevard’s prior collaboration with Jean-Marie Rock, famed Brewmaster for Orval, we recreated an old recipe that Jean-Marie brewed near the beginning of his career. We gave him a chance to step away from his busy production schedule of producing Orval to create something near and dear to him. Our collaboration with Deschutes is different. The two breweries have come together to create a new style of beer, a White I.P.A. The intention with this style is to marry Belgian Wit beer characteristics with American I.P.A. qualities. We’ve chosen a special Belgian yeast strain for fermentation and have hopped with large amounts of bold, American hops.
With Jean-Marie’s beer we brewed just two batches of it and both were blended to create the final product, but for Collaboration No 2, we’ve both brewed several test batches with a multitude of recipe and ingredient changes. We’ve held several tasting sessions to tweak each malt, hop, herb, and spice to be just the way we want it. Deschutes has served test batches from their brewpubs to get the input of the drinking public. We’ve taken a lot of time and care at every step of the process through recipe development, brewing, and fermentation to make sure the exact beer is created that we all have in mind. With Collaboration No. 2, every brewer from Deschutes and Boulevard has had his or her chance to help shape the final product. Excitement filled the brewery a few weeks back when Larry Sidor, brewmaster for Deschutes, came to Kansas City to brew with us. It was an honor to brew with someone whose beers we enjoy so much.
As passionate craft brewers, it is our genuine hope that people enjoy this beer we’ve created together, and even more so, we hope the influence of each brewery is apparent in the glass. Cheers!
Click here to see photos from the day of brewing Collaboration No. 2 with Boulevard brewers and Larry Sidor of Deschutes.
Blog submitted by Boulevard brewer, Jeremy Danner.