Alaskan’s Autumn Beers Feature Northwest Coffee Roots

Courtesy of Alaskan Brewing Co

Collaboration key in the making of Heritage Coffee Brown Ale

JUNEAU, Alaska (August 24, 2017) – Alaskan Brewing Company is featuring innovation and collaboration in its 2017 fall seasonal Heritage Coffee Brown Ale. First released on a limited basis in 2015, Alaskan Heritage Coffee Brown Ale is back once again this autumn. Brewed with a goal of smooth coffee flavor from start to finish, this seasonal brew focuses on local ingredients and the spirit of collaboration to craft a rich brown ale with big cocoa aroma. 
 
“This beer started with the idea of coffee roasted malts, similar to what has been done with Smoked Porter for years – instead of smoking the malts, we wanted to try to roast them in a coffee roaster, incorporating coffee beans into the malt itself,” said Darin Jensen, Marketing Specialist at Alaskan Brewing Company. “We met with Heritage Coffee and they were as excited as we were about the idea. This was the first coffee beer we’ve brewed where we tried this new method of roasting the malts in the coffee roaster, which imparts an even deeper, richer, core coffee aroma.”
 
Heritage Coffee Brown is Alaskan Brewing’s second collaboration of the year with Juneau mainstay Heritage Coffee Roasting Company. Coupled with the Alaskan Mocha Milk Stout, this fall’s selection is coffee-inspired, in a break from the standard autumnal selection of pumpkin-flavored beers. 

“The team from Heritage worked with us to figure out the best coffee to pair with the earthy, more herbal hops we planned to use,” said Jensen. “We wanted to do a really good representation of a true coffee beer, something that wasn’t acrid or bitter, but brought out that roasted aroma. A lot of the time with coffee beers, it’s a huge beer – high alcohol, tons of coffee flavor – so it can be a challenge to drink. We were shooting for the perfect balance between coffee and beer, to get those two to match up and be very drinkable.”

Heritage’s roast of the Brazilian Paixao is a caramel, honey-sweet bean that was ultimately the coffee of choice to blend with the flavors of the brown ale. Coffee flavor is introduced several different points in the brewing process: first, some of the malt is roasted in Heritage’s coffee roaster, complete with the inclusion of coffee beans; later, the coffee is cold-brewed to reduce bitterness, and incorporated in both the kettle boil and the end of fermentation. The end result is a medium-bodied beer, but with a full coffee taste and aroma. 

“Ideally, we were looking to incorporate the coffee in both the roasting stage, which we weren’t even sure was possible at first, then cold-brew it, and reintroduce it later as well. It’s a double dose of coffee, which really gets that deep, rich flavor in there, without being too dark or heavy,” Jensen said.
In contrast, the limited edition Pilot Series Mocha Milk Stout is a full-bodied beer with a rich, robust and fairly sweet coffee and chocolate flavor, brought forward through the use of cocoa nibs and Heritage’s roast of Guatemalan Huehuetenango coffee. The creamy full body is augmented by the addition of lactose, which is the reason it is classified as a milk stout.

Alaskan Heritage Coffee Brown is now released and will be available until the end of October. Mocha Milk Stout is also available through October.

No Pumpkin Here: Alaskan Brings Coffee Brown Ale to Fall Lineup

Heritage Coffee Roaster Mike Dunlevy and Alaskan Brewer Tyler Lindquist examine the malt and coffee mixture as it comes out of the roaster and onto the cooling tray - courtesy of Alaskan Brewing Co

Heritage Coffee Brown Ale uses radical technique for rich flavor

JUNEAU, Alaska (Aug. 22, 2016) – Alaskan Brewing Company this fall is nixing the pumpkin beers in favor of a rich coffee ale created by teaming up with Juneau-based Heritage Coffee Roasting Company. First released on a limited basis last year to rave reviews, Alaskan Heritage Coffee Brown Ale uses an unusual technique and the highest quality ingredients to bring out the best coffee flavor and aroma, and will be available as the autumn seasonal in all states where Alaskan Brewing is distributed.

“We were looking to brew a coffee beer that wasn’t overly-dominated by dark malts,” said Alaskan Brewer Tyler Lindquist. “That’s why we went with a Brown Ale for this beer. The subtleness of the Brown Ale then allowed us to accentuate the richness of a great coffee, instead of the bitter acrid flavor that sometimes comes through in coffee beers”

That subtle flavor allowed for a radical technique that required close collaboration between the brewers at Alaskan and the roasters at Heritage.

Courtesy of Alaskan Brewing Co

“They wanted to have a deep coffee backbone to this beer, so we all came up with the idea of roasting some of the malt in our coffee roaster with some of the beans used in the beer,” said Heritage Coffee Roaster Mike Dunlevy. “That’s pretty tricky, because the flashpoint of malt is much lower than that for coffee beans, so the potential of fire was very real.”

Heritage Roasters worked with Alaskan Brewers to sample coffees in order to find a blend that would bring out chocolate, caramel and honey in the final beer. They decided on a Brazilian variety called Paixao, which they cold-brewed to reduce bitterness. This cold-brewed coffee was added at multiple stages throughout the brewing process of the beer, in order to infuse it with a deep and rich coffee flavor and aroma.

Alaskan has released pumpkin beers for the past few years during the fall season, but this year, among a seeming flood of pumpkin beers available on the market, Alaskan’s brewers wanted to break away from convention and offer an alternative to their loyal fans.

First sampled at last year’s Great American Beer Festival, Alaskan Heritage Coffee Brown Ale garnered rave reviews, with at least one reference to it being part of a “next level” of coffee beers. The beer will be out in September and will be available until mid-November.

Courtesy of Alaskan Brewing Co

For more information, check out Alaskan Brewing’s website at www.alaskanbeer.com.

Alaskan Brewing Releases Heritage Coffee Brown Ale

Alaskan Brewing Offers a New Take on Coffee Beer

Heritage Coffee Brown Ale uses radical technique to bring rich flavor

Courtesy of Alaskan Brewing Co

JUNEAU, Alaska (Oct. 1, 2015) – Alaskan Brewing Company teamed up with Juneau-based Heritage Coffee Roasting Co. to craft a new beer that accentuates the richness of coffee and the smoothness of premium malts. The result is Alaskan Heritage Coffee Brown Ale, the latest of the Pilot Series of beers, available starting in October in 22-ounce bombers and on draft in the 17 states where Alaskan Brewing is distributed.

“We were looking to brew a coffee beer that wasn’t overly-dominated by dark malts,” said Alaskan Brewer Tyler Lindquist. “That’s why we went with a Brown Ale for this beer. The subtleness of the Brown Ale then allowed us to accentuate the richness of a great coffee, instead of the bitter acrid flavor that sometimes comes through in coffee beers.”

That subtle flavor allowed for a radical technique that required close collaboration between the brewers at Alaskan and the roasters at Heritage.

“They wanted to have a deep coffee backbone to this beer, so we all came up with the idea of roasting some of the malt in our coffee roaster with some of the beans used in the beer,” said Heritage Coffee Roaster Mike Dunlevy. “That’s pretty tricky, because the flashpoint of malt is much lower than that for coffee beans, so the potential of fire was very real.”

Courtesy of Alaskan Brewing Co

Heritage Roasters worked with Alaskan Brewers to sample coffees in order to find a blend that would bring out chocolate, caramel and honey in the final beer. They decided to use Heritage’s signature Brazilian blend “Paixao” (Portuguese for passion) which was cold-brewed to reduce acidity. This cold-brewed coffee was added at multiple stages throughout the brewing process of the beer, in order to infuse it with a deep and rich coffee flavor and aroma.

Heritage Coffee and Alaskan Brewing have common roots in Juneau, where Heritage founder Grady Saunders first started bringing freshly-roasted coffee to the community in 1974. Saunders was one of the people that helped inspire the idea of smoking malts to create the award-winning Alaskan Smoked Porter in 1988.

First sampled at this year’s Great American Beer Festival, Alaskan Heritage Coffee Brown Ale is already garnering rave reviews, with at least one reference to it being part of a “next level” of coffee beers.

For more information, check out Alaskan Brewing’s website at alaskanbeer.com/our-beers/pilot-series-heritage-coffee-brown-ale/.