GABF medals symbolize excellence in brewing and no Texas brewery has more
HOUSTON, September 30, 2015 – Oktoberfest has always been a big deal for Saint Arnold Brewing Co. (www.saintarnold.com), the oldest craft brewery in Texas, but this year the celebration of all things German will be more special. For the third year in a row, judges at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) awarded a medal to Saint Arnold Weedwacker in the German-Style Wheat Ale category. This year’s medal was gold. It is Saint Arnold’s 21st GABF medal, a record for any Texas craft brewery.
Saint Arnold Weedwacker was among 15 Texas craft beers recognized with GABF medals. Weedwacker is light and refreshing with a spicy clove note and some banana esters that come from the use of Bavarian hefeweizen yeast. Four separate additions of Hallertauer Hersbrucker hops contribute to Weedwacker’s delicate flavor and aroma.
“It is a great feeling for our entire team when we bring home any medal from the GABF, but a gold medal is especially gratifying,” said Saint Arnold Founder/Brewer Brock Wagner. “Winning medals is harder and harder every year as more breweries open and the number of beers entered increases. We enjoyed celebrating our win with all of the other Texas breweries and there were a lot of us in Denver last week.”
Saint Arnold Weedwacker was originally released in 2010 as part of the brewery’s educational “Movable Yeast” series. It started the same as Saint Arnold Lawnmower, but instead of pitching the wort (unfermented beer) with Saint Arnold’s proprietary yeast, Weedwacker is pitched with Bavarian hefeweizen yeast. Saint Arnold responded to strong positive feedback by making Weedwacker a year-round beer in 2011.
Saint Arnold Weedwacker will be featured at the brewery’s annual Oktoberfest celebration, which runs this Friday and Saturday October 2nd and 3rd from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The sold-out event offers wonderful photo opportunities each night when hundreds of craft beer lovers donning traditional Bavarian clothing (called “Tracht”) such as dirndl dresses, lederhosen and German alpine hats converge on the brewery’s tour hall. In addition to Weedwacker, Saint Arnold Oktoberfest and other Saint Arnold beers, Saint Arnold Chef Ryan Savoie will prepare a special German dinner.
The following photos are available for download: • Brock Wagner with GABF Gold: http://www.saintarnold.com/images/brock_wagner_gabf.jpg • Saint Arnold Weedwacker bottle: http://www.saintarnold.com/images/weedwacker_bottle.jpg • 2014 Saint Arnold Oktoberfest party: http://www.saintarnold.com/images/oktoberfest_party.jpg
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About Saint Arnold Brewing Company
Saint Arnold Brewing’s 16 brews are made and sold by the company’s staff of 80 dedicated employees. Ranked 46th on the Brewers Association list of top craft breweries, Saint Arnold was listed by USA Today as one of the “10 great places to see what’s brewing in beer,” and Smart Meetings magazine named it among the “Top 5 breweries to host an event.” Saint Arnold is located at 2000 Lyons Avenue and its brewery tour and tasting is offered every weekday at 3:00 P.M. and Saturdays starting at 11 A.M. For more information on Saint Arnold’s eight year-round and five seasonal beers as well as root beer, log on to www.saintarnold.com.
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