At this point, we’re just going to designate this section of the newsletter for local beer weeks. Since The City kicked it off way back in 2009, craft beer weeks have popped up all over Northern California, and now Reno/Sparks is getting in on the action with Reno Craft Beer Week. We, of course, do not pass up such opportunities, so we got together with Great Basin Brewing Co for a RCBW collaboration brew that’ll be released at their Sparks brewpub on Tuesday, April 21.
You see, GBBC is Nevada’s oldest brewery, and we’re now 25 & change, so we figured we’d look to the grizzled ol’ veterans who predate Nevada’s burgeoning craft beer scene to make sure we make ourselves the biggest little splash we could in Reno. And with that relationship forged, we’re set to release a Belgian Dubbel brewed with foraged ingredients from both the Golden & Silver States.
Based on American favorite Nelson Sauvin, we supplied German Hallertau hops, which will provide a blend of citrus we know & love from Nelson alongside a spicy bite German hops are renowned for. Having both was essential, considering the rest of this ingredient list: foraged California spruce & cedar in the mash, spruce in the boil, and the final addition that still awaits: a tea brewed from Nevadan desert sage & juniper that will be added post-fermentation, much like the traditional Finnish sahti.
We landed on these additions as a way to not only bring together brewers from CA & NV, but also to bring together the lush greens of California with the desert brush of Nevada for a truly representative brew of these two longstanding Western brewhouses & our respective brewing histories.
Follow Drake’s