Experimenting with new recipes, preparation methods and flavor combinations can be the best part of being a brewer or chef. When new ideas and ingredients brew into something delicious, we all enjoy the final reward! Hence, we’re proud to debut our latest specialty (never before brewed) beer at Standing Stone: Brewer’s Surprise Ale

This new beer stems from our brewer Larry Chase’s craving to use a few new Breiss Malt varieties in a specialty beer. He mixed Briess Goldpils® Vienna, Caracrystal Wheat and Bonlander for color and flavor contributions. Larry also used the “hopportunity” to feature a new organic hop variety we’ve never used before: Ahtanum. We dry hopped with 2lbs per BBL (31 gal.) in this new beer, compared with 1.4lbs per BBL for our Twin Plunge Double IPA, to create hoppy, herbal aroma. We welcome this proprietary hop as part of our mission to move toward all organic brewing ingredients.

About the Beer

This Hoppy Wheat Amber style ale features an orange-rust color, herbal aroma and medium mouthfeel. The mild bitterness and hop flavor are reminiscent of green tea and spicy herbs. 6.1% abv, 15 IBU

Malt

• Briess Goldpils® Vienna

• Briess Caracrystal Wheat

• Briess Bonlander

• Briess Oat Flakes

Hops

• Bittering: Willamette

• Flavor/Aroma: Galaxy

• Dry Hops: Willamette and Ahtanum

Food Pairing Suggestions

This beer’s fresh, citrusy aroma and medium body pairs well with fried foods and spicy meats. We recommend hearty, though not creamy, dishes to let the mouthfeel shine through. Here are our suggestions from the menu:

• Three Meat Pizza

• Calamari

• Fish & Chips

• Black Bean Nachos

• Tacos de Carne Asada

Come try Brewer’s Surprise and Chocolate Ale side by side while they last. They started out as the same batch, and then Larry separated them to add the final ingredients and fashion two new concoctions. Be sure to let us know what you think about the Ahtanum hops and the aroma and flavor this variety adds to our new beer.