613 S. 2nd St., Milwaukee, WI 53204 phone: 414.226.2337 www.mkebrewing.com info@mkebrewing.com
MKE Brewing Co. Teams Up with Bayou Teche Brewing For Bastille Days
The annual Bastille Days celebration held in downtown Milwaukee, July 9th-12th, will feature an exclusive collaboration brew between MKE Brewing Co. (Milwaukee, WI) and Bayou Teche Brewing (Arnaudville, LA). The Bastille Days Saison is recipe created by head brewers Robert Morton (MKE) and Gar Hatcher (Bayou Teche) to highlight the French and Acadian heritage of Louisiana. After deliberating over several ideas, Brewers Morton and Hatcher decided on a Saison Style Ale that is essentially a deconstructed version of a classic Louisiana treat called Succade that consists of candied citrus peel. The collaboration Saison is a limited release brew that will be on tap throughout the Bastille Days Festival at the Milwaukee Ale House and available in a small amount to local bars and restaurants following the festival. Bayou Teche will also be bringing the soundtrack for the festival as the Lost Bayou Ramblers, made up of members of Bayou Tech Brewery, take the stage Sunday night to entertain the Bastille Days crowd.
The Recipe The core beer style at the heart of the recipe, a Saison Style Ale, is flavored with a variety of Meyer Lemon, Tangerine and Lime peel then fermented with Belgian Candi sugar, a popular brewing sugar. It was decided to ferment the beer with a traditional Saison Yeast strain known for its fruity and herbal character that can best be described as a” bubble gum” aroma. The malt bill for this Saison consists of light Pilsen malt and un-malted wheat with a small portion of biscuit malt added for color and flavor. The brewers didn’t want the hop bitterness to clash with the citrus peel flavors so, they chose to add the majority of the hops in the fermenter to reduce the hop bitterness (IBUs). The hop variety they chose was Sorachi Ace , known for its fresh lemon character.
The end result is a Golden Ale that has a number of complex layers. The floral nose has hints of clove, citrus peel, peach, and bubble gum. The beer pours with a solid white head that can be attributed to the unmalted wheat in the recipe. A warm crisp flavor hinting at green apple, pear, and citrus refreshes the pallet.
ABOUT MKE BREWING CO. MKE Brewing Co. started as a brewpub, the Milwaukee Ale House, in October 1997 in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward. Founder Jim McCabe took his love for home brewing and his engineering background to design a functional and robust 15 bbl brewpub when Milwaukee was still a lager town. Fast forward 10 years and over 300 innovative beers later to November 2007 when MKE Brewing Co kegged off their first brew at their 2nd St. Brewery located in the trendy Walkers Point neighborhood. The 50 bbl brewing and packaging facility allowed MKE Brewing Co to meet the demand of their ever-popular Ale House brews and start brewing more styles that they always wanted to. A WDNR Green Tier Certified brewery, MKE Brewing Co. prides themselves on flexible and energy saving efforts to reduce their carbon footprint. With initiatives such as the 28 solar hot water panels on the roof, a bio-diesel boiler fueled by fryer oil from local restaurants, clean wastewater conservation, donating spent grain to local urban farm Growing Power and as the first micro-cannery in Wisconsin, MKE Brewing Co is at the forefront of Green Tier conservation efforts. McCabe along with principal partner Jim Hughes have experienced the most productive year in their brief history producing 12,000 bbls in 2014. MKE Brewing Co. is committed to creating innovative, well-balanced, approachable beers that appeal to the craft beer aficionado and new craft beer drinker alike. Head brewer Robert Morton and his team pride themselves on taking the artisan approach to brewing, using only the finest local ingredients and never making compromises.
About Bayou Teche Brewing Returning to America after a six year deployment in West Germany, our brewmaster dreamed of creating a beer that would pair with the Cajun cuisine he grew up eating. Living in Europe, he had learned to appreciate the regional foods and beers of many countries, and how they had evolved to complement each other. Taking up brewing beer at home, he taught himself to make several styles of these beers, fine- tuning recipes until he was satisfied that they complimented Cajun and Creole food. After returning to Arnaudville, he taught his brothers and collaborating they brewed commemorative batches of beer for their family’s holiday meals. Bayou Teche Brewing was founded on this simple dream – to craft beers that complement the cuisine and lifestyle of Cajuns and Creoles. With that mission, the Knott brothers decided on St. Patrick’s Day in 2009 to convert a discarded rail road car into a farmhouse brewery. Today, in that converted old rail car near the banks of the Bayou Teche, innovative ales are being crafted true to the brewers’ original intent – beers that complement the unique foods and lifestyles of South Louisiana.
Share Post