Steamworks firkin beer to celebrate Colorado’s harvest

DURANGO, Colo. – Steamworks brewers Ken Martin and Spencer Roper saw opportunity in the plethora of fresh Palisade peaches currently available, and have created a firkin that celebrates the harvest. Firkin Fridays continues at Steamworks Brewing Co. on Friday, Sept. 2, 2011, with the tapping of “Eüberpucker Ale” at 3 p.m.

“The base for this beer most closely resembles the unique beer style Berliner Weisse, which is a very light wheat ale,” said Martin, explaining that the style features a “mouthfeel” that is light-bodied with a dry finish and no sensation of alcohol.  “There’s also traditionally very high carbonation, and a clean lactic sourness dominates the flavor of a Berliner Weisse.”

The Eüberpucker Ale has been aged in one of Steamworks’ Chardonnay barrels with Lactobacillus bacteria, and it’s the Lactobacillus that creates lactic acid in beer giving it a tart and acidic character.

To balance out the tartness of the base beer and lend a pleasant sweetness to this Eüberpucker Ale, Steamworks’ brew dogs blanched, skinned, pitted and pureed some 15 large Palisade peaches and added them to the firkin.

            “This is our first ‘sour beer’ firkin so we’re looking forward to the response,” said Roper, noting that sour beers aren’t for everyone. “But the two sour beers we’ve featured at the pub in the past have been met with praise. A true craft beer aficionado needs to try all styles of beer – and the firkins might be considered the most exciting ones to sample.”

 A firkin is an old English unit of volume, typically a wooden cask equal to approximately one-quarter of a regular barrel, or nine gallons. Steamworks initiated its Firkin Fridays to introduce a range of specialty craft beers not suited to large draft production. Each month an “unusual” brew is tapped, coordinated with the season or holidays.