All 13 beers in brewery’s year-round and seasonal portfolio have won GABF or World Beer Cup medals
When Saint Arnold Brewing Co., the oldest craft brewery in Texas, refers to its award winning beer, it no longer needs to be more specific. Until the 2013 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) held last weekend, Saint Arnold Weedwacker had been the one and only beer in the brewery’s year-round and seasonal lineups that had not attracted the judges’ attention at either the GABF or the World Beer Cup – the major brewing competitions. But Weedwacker’s GABF Bronze Medal in the German-Style Wheat Ale category means Saint Arnold is in rarified air – a brewery offering a lineup of beers that across the board have been judged to be among the best.
“We take a lot of pride in our passion for brewing quality beer. Having 13 of our beers over a wide spectrum of styles winning these awards is a great feeling for our entire team,” said Founder / Brewer Brock Wagner. “Weedwacker is one of our most recent year-round additions. It was originally a limited release in our Moveable Yeast series in which we took one of our other beers – in this case Fancy Lawnmower Beer – and changed nothing but the yeast, thereby educating beer drinkers on the flavor contribution of yeast to beer.”
Saint Arnold Summer Pils became the brewery’s most highly decorated beer by winning its fifth GABF medal. The judges awarded Summer Pils the Silver in the Munich-Style Helles category.
To celebrate, Saint Arnold this week released Saint Arnold Fresh Hop Ale, a special brew that will not join the brewery’s regular lineup because of the seasonality of the key ingredient. The West Coast-style India Pale Ale features three different types of hops – Centennial for bitter, along with 420 pounds of freshly harvested Citra hops that were shipped overnight to the brewery. Finally, the brewers dry hopped the beer with Amarillo hops, producing a total of 67 barrels. Saint Arnold Fresh Hop Ale will be available on tap in pubs and restaurants.
This week also marked the return of Saint Arnold Pumpkinator, which has earned a world-class rating of 96 on Beer Advocate. The official release of 22 ounce bottles of Pumpkinator attracted lines at some establishments Monday, but expect it to continue trickling into Texas, Louisiana and Colorado markets throughout the coming weeks. Saint Arnold Christmas Ale is scheduled for release next week.
Follow Saint Arnold Brewing on Facebook and on Twitter
About Saint Arnold Brewing Company
Saint Arnold Brewing’s 16 brews are made and sold by the company’s staff of 53 dedicated employees. Ranked 45th 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 seven year-round and five seasonal beers as well as root beer, log on to www.saintarnold.com.
