"Kellerweis" news and stories

If you're a big fan of Sierra Nevada Wheat, you might want to begin stocking up now...

Earlier in the week, I passed along information from a Sierra Nevada press release announcing the addition of a new year-round offering due later in 2009 called Sierra Nevada Kellerweis Hefeweizen, a German-style wheat beer. In that post, I stated: "My only question would be that...Sierra Nevada already has a wheat beer: The aptly named Sierra Nevada Wheat. Obviously wheat beers come in many different styles...but it'll be interesting to see how these co-exist."

Well, after speaking with a number of representatives from Sierra Nevada during Philly Beer Week, co-exist they will not. "Kellerweis will replace the Wheat," stated Assistant Brewmaster Terence Sullivan, which was later confirmed by one of the sales reps. Turns out Sierra Nevada Wheat, an American-style wheat beer, has seen slumping sales for quite some time now, and though the beer has been with the company since it's early days, they've decided its time to part way.

It's a sensible move: At the time of its conception, Wheat was one of the first of its kind, but the beer is a bit mild by today's standards. Kellerweis will have more of the bold flavors we've come to associate with a Sierra Nevada beer. And enthusiasm over the Kellerweis was running extremely high. "We can not wait for people to try this beer" was a regular refrain from the SN team. Send one my way, boys!

Hot on the heels of their Torpedo Extra IPA -- Sierra Nevada's first new year-round offering in over a decade -- the California brewery is doing it again, announcing the release of a second, new, year-round release launching in 2009 (which, in case you're counting, will bring the grand total of year-round releases to six).

A "polar opposite on the flavor spectrum" from the Torpedo IPA, this new selection has been branded Kellerweis Hefewizen -- "a traditional Bavarian Hefeweizen that we have been working on for a number of years." According to their press release, the product was originally developed after Sierra Nevada obtained a rare and unique yeast strain from a very small Bavarian brewery. However, it wasn't until a trip to Germany inspired the brewers to use open fermentation that the beer finally obtained the flavors they were seeking (and also inspired the name -- "keller" is German for cellar, the name breweries give to their fermentation systems).

Sierra Nevada states: "The flavor is rich with bready wheat notes and massive banana and clove... The finish is clean and crisp and the beer has a low enough ABV to be scarily session-able." Sounds like a winner to me. I am a huge wheat/white beer fan, especially those in the more drinkable spectrum. My only question would be that, as many may know, Sierra Nevada already has a wheat beer: The aptly named Sierra Nevada Wheat. Obviously wheat beers come in many different styles, and the Kellerweis Hefeweizen sounds distinctly different, but it'll be interesting to see how these co-exist. Just as the Torpedo IPA set itself apart from Sierra's long-standing Pale Ale, the Kellerweis will be tasked to do a similar job.