Item: New Belgium Brewing 1554 Brussels Style Black Ale
SKU: nbb_1554brusselsstyleblackale
Price: $1.65
12 oz bottle
Phil Benstein, our resident rumpled professor, stumbled onto Zwartbier in an 1888 tome creatively named “Popular Beverages of Various Countries.” He had trouble convincing brewmaster Peter Bouckaert that such a beer existed back in 16th - century Belgium, so the pair made two trips to Belgium to research this obscure style in the archives of Belgium’s specialty brewers. The oldest reference to these black beers that our dynamic duo uncovered was in the year 1554.
Other than being dark in color, 1554 has little in common with Porters or Stouts. The beer is fermented at relatively high temperatures using a European lager yeast that imparts a refreshing, zesty acidity. Chocolate and coffee tones in the nose give way to a surprisingly clean finish. With 1554 our staff hoped to create a beer similar to what folks enjoyed nearly five-hundred years ago without ignoring five-hundred years of technological innovation. We hope you’ll agree that 1554 is the delicious result of a lot of well-spent library time.
Untitled DocumentORIGIN: Fort Collins, Colorado. The Story begins in
Belgium not so long ago with their protagonist- a young American electrical engineer
and homebrewer- biking his way across Europe. Inspired by Belgian brewers' impressive
pallet of ingredients (everything from lime leaves to raspberries are fair game)
Jeff Lebesch returned to Colorado and began knocking out batches of Belgian-style
homebrew. His first two creations- a brown dubbel named Abbey and a remarkably
well-balanced amber he named Fat Tire in honor of his trip- scored high marks
with friends and relatives. People loved the earthy undertones and estery nose
of Abbey. They reveled in Fat Tire's biscuity balance. In fact, folks loved everything
about that beer- except the name."'Fat Tire'?" they wondered aloud,
"that's just goofy." Jeff smiled politely and carried on.
