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| Courtesy of Samuel Adams |
Nitro White Ale, IPA and Coffee Stout Hitting Shelves
BOSTON, January 25, 2016
– Water. Malt. Hops. Yeast. These
are the four traditional ingredients in beer. With the new Samuel Adams
Nitro Project, the brewers want you to experience a fifth ingredient:
nitrogen, in place of carbonation. After experimenting
with countless iterations and test batches
in the nanobrewery at the Sam Adams Boston
Brewery, the brewers are excited to announce the release of the first
three brews from the Samuel Adams Nitro Project – Nitro White Ale, Nitro
IPA, and Nitro Coffee Stout. Nitro beers are
most commonly associated with stouts, but the brewers stretched the
boundaries and started nitrogenating a variety of styles. There are very
few breweries that offer nitro beers to drinkers at all, and virtually
none that offer a variety of nitro beers in
cans on an everyday basis. Nitro beers seemed, to the brewers at Sam
Adams, like the perfect way to fundamentally transform the flavor
profiles of a variety of beer styles.
To fill you in on what makes this project different, the brewers share everything you need to know about the Nitro Project:
What is a nitro beer?
The
‘nitro’, of course, is short for nitrogen gas. All beers contain a
significant amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) when the beer is carbonated
as part of the
brewing process, but nitro beers use a combination of both nitrogen and
carbon dioxide. Nitrogen is mostly insoluble in beer, so the resulting
bubbles are smaller and create the rich, creamy texture familiar to
nitro beers. On the flip side, beers that use
CO₂ generally have larger bubbles and a more pronounced acidity and
carbonated texture. Think of the difference between carbonated water and
still water. Both are water but the taste experience is radically
different. When a nitro beer is poured, it creates
a beautiful cascade down the side of the glass, a thick, creamy head
and a smooth mouthfeel.
What beers are debuting in the Samuel Adams Nitro Project?
The first three of more beers to come!
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| Courtesy of Samuel Adams |
Nitro White Ale
is a smooth, velvety, medium-bodied brew. Orange
peel, coriander and Grains of Paradise lend hints of orange and peppery
spice, and the first sip reveals these flavors alongside a light wheat
character. When poured, Nitro White Ale shows off a billowing white head
and a pillowy body that softly cascades
into bright gold. (5.5% ABV)
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| Courtesy of Samuel Adams |
Nitro IPA
is
boldly bitter yet smooth. The brew has an initial cap of creaminess,
which gives way to hop intensity gathered from Amarillo, Centennial,
Galaxy, Polaris, Simcoe,
and Zeus hops. The hop varieties lend resinous pine, citrus and floral
notes to the amber-bodied brew. (7.5% ABV)
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| Courtesy of Samuel Adams |
Nitro Coffee Stout
is a jet black brew with a rich, robust character.
Dark roasted malts create notes of bittersweet chocolate with hints of
dark fruit. Sumatran Mandheling and Indian Monsoon Malabar coffee add a
deep roast dimension to the brew. (5.8% ABV)
How does nitro work on tap and in cans?
When a nitro beer is poured on tap, it requires a specially-designed nitro faucet. These special faucets have internal plates
or
“sparklers” with small holes drilled in them, and when the beer is
forced through the holes at high pressure, it produces tiny bubbles
which create the trademark nitro
cascade. The tight bubbles create a creamy, uniform, thick head on the
beer. To produce the high pressure, nitro beer is forced out by a nitro
gas blend, which is typically 75% nitrogen and 25% CO₂.
Because the pour is so important, the brewers stress that nitro
beers require a perfect marriage between brewer and bartender. The
brewer perfects the recipe in order to gain the desired flavor profile,
and the bartender must
have the proper draft line and equipment in order to create the cascade
and the best possible drinker experience.
In
cans, a hollow, cylindrical plastic widget, which the brewers refer to
as the nitrogenator, is used to replicate this distinctive nitro
delivery. Once the
can is popped open, the pressure from the nitro is so intense, the
brewers recommend pouring immediately into a glass and pouring straight
down the center of the glass for the best possible experience. The
result is a mixture of the small bubbles and the liquid
in the glass.
What does Samuel Adams founder and brewer Jim Koch have to say about the Nitro Project?
“We
started experimenting with nitro beers in the mid 1990’s when we brewed
a Boston Cream Ale and over the years, I’d estimate we brewed more than
50 beer styles
and worked with 200 recipes to ultimately create these three unique
beers. We quickly discovered that you can’t just put any beer on nitro.
We needed to develop recipes where nitrogen was the unexpected fifth
ingredient and brought out the desired flavor
profile of the brew. For example, with the IPA, the lack of
carbonation reduces the perceived bitterness by cutting the acidity
(carbonation produces carbonic acid on the tongue, nitrogen doesn’t) so
without the carbonation we really had to amp up the amount
of hops we used. We’re excited for drinkers to finally get a chance to
try our Nitro beers and experience the cascade – which is like a
science experiment in a glass.”
Where can drinkers find the Sam Adams Nitro Project brews?
Nitro
White Ale is available nationwide on draft. Nitro White Ale, Nitro IPA
and Nitro Coffee Stout will be available in 4-packs of 15 oz. cans
beginning in
February for a suggested retail price of $8.99-$10.99 (all prices vary by market).
ABOUT THE BOSTON BEER COMPANY:
The Boston Beer Company
began in 1984 with a generations-old family recipe that Founder and
Brewer Jim Koch uncovered in his father’s attic. Inspired and unafraid
to challenge conventional thinking about beer,
Jim brought the recipe to life in his kitchen. Pleased with the results
of his work, Jim decided to sample his beer with bars in Boston in the
hopes that drinkers would appreciate the complex, full-flavored beer he
brewed fresh in America. That beer was aptly
named Samuel Adams Boston Lager, in recognition of one of our nation's
great founding fathers, a man of independent mind and spirit. Little did
Jim know at the time, Samuel Adams Boston Lager would soon become a
catalyst of the American craft beer revolution.
Today,
The Boston Beer Company brews more than 60 styles of beer. It
relentlessly pursues the development of new styles and the perfection
of classic beers by searching the world for the finest ingredients.
Using the traditional four vessel brewing process, the Company often
takes extra steps like dry-hopping, barrel-aging and a secondary
fermentation known as krausening. The Company has also
pioneered another revolution, the 'extreme beer' movement, where it
seeks to challenge drinker's perceptions of what beer can be. The Boston
Beer Company has been committed to elevating the image of American
craft beer by entering festivals and competitions
around the globe, and is one of world’s most awarded breweries at
international beer competitions. As an independent company, brewing
quality beer remains its primary focus. Although Samuel Adams beer is
America's leading craft beer, it accounts for only one
percent of the U.S. beer market. The Boston Beer Company will continue
its independently-minded quest to brew great beer and to advocate for
the growth of craft beer across America. For more information, please
visit
www.samueladams.com.
