21 Nov Craftroads Beverage Adds Almanac and Rochester Mills to the Indiana Landscape
by Mark E. Lasbury for Indiana On Tap
There are two new choices for craft beer fans in Indiana. Craftroads Beverage is distributing both Rochester Mills Beer and Almanac Beer Co. beers across Indiana. Not all selections are available in all areas of the state yet, but look for expanding choices over the next several weeks.
Each of these breweries has a wide portfolio of beers styles, yet each is known for something special. Almanac has their “Farm to Barrel” sour series, several bottled beers that use house wild yeasts and are aged for more than a year in bourbon, wine or American oak barrels. This was their total focus when Almanac first opened, but they still rely on local and sustainable agricultural products in all their beers. According to Brand Manager Taylor Williams of Craftroads, Almanac offering in Indiana will include:
Farm to Barrel 375ml Bottled Sour Series
image credit: Almanac Beer Co.
Strawberry & Basil (Farmhouse base with strawberries and Thai basil)
Tropical Galaxy (Blended pineapple, mango, lime and coconut in oak barrel with farmhouse-brett base)
Raspberry Sunshine (Farmhouse ale aged in white wine oak foeders)
Passion Project (Blended ginger, grains of paradise, and passionfruit in oak barrel with farmhouse-brett base, dry hopped with Citra, Mosaic and Galaxy hops)
Cherry Berry (Sour red ale aged in wine barrels with cherries, raspberries, blackberries and vanilla beans)
Peach Galaxy (Galaxy dry-hopped sour farmhouse ale aged in oak barrels with peaches and spices)
Fresh Beer Series, Cans
LOVE, hazy IPA
LOUD, hazy double IPA
VIBES, hoppy pils
Sournova Series, Cans
Peach Sournova
Draft Only (limited)
Sunshine and Opportunity (Farmhouse ale with flavors of pineapple, apricot, and tropical funk)
Cherry Supernova (Sour ale aged in oak barrels with cherries)
Interstellar Apricot (Sour ale aged in oak barrels with apricots)
Rochester Mills is perhaps best known for their Christmas series sample pack called The Twelve Days of Milkshake Stout. Twelve different flavored variants of the Milkshake Stout are released in pint can twelve packs. Several of the variants are new for 2018, and Taylor tells me that liquor stores are selling out of the sample pack fast. New shipments are scheduled to arrive on December first. The sample pack includes:
12 Days of Milkshake Stout 12 pack
Imperial Milkshake Stout
Imperial Blueberry Pancake Milkshake Stout
German Chocolate Cake Milkshake Stout
English Toffee Milkshake Stout
Peanut Brittle Milkshake Stout
Oatmeal Milkshake Stout
Coffee House Milkshake Stout
Ninja Turtle Milkshake Stout
Bourbon Barrel Aged Milkshake Stout
Bourbon Barrel Aged Toasted Marshmallow Milkshake Stout
Milkshake Blonde
Events have been taking place to welcome these two new breweries to Indiana. Unfortunately, most of the Almanac events have already taken place, the only thing left to do is to find and drink the beer. For Rochester Mills beers, Blind Owl Brewery will be running a special from December 10-16th for a 12-pour sampler of all the varieties. They’ll also be selling to go 12-packs. The Tap on Mass Ave will be getting a keg of each stout to be tapped one a day starting the second week in December; however, the order of tapping is still being decided.
About Rochester Mills Beer Co.: The brewery opened in 1998 with beers for the residents of Rochester and surrounding communities. The brewpub is located on Water Street in the historic Western Knitting Mill. The brewpub features original hardwoods and exposed brick walls. In 2012, Rochester Mills expanded their operations to include a production brewery five miles away from the brewpub in Auburn Hills.
About Almanac Beer Co.: Founded in 2010 by Damian Fagan ad Jesse Friedman in San Francisco and Alameda (barrel aging facility), California. They feel particularly strong about local farms and partner with a different local farm to procure fruit for each year’s fruit sours. Almanac Beer Co. considers each of their beers to be a collaboration between their brewers and the local terroir.
About Craftroads Beverage: Craftroads is a distribution company built on providing the best craft beverages to consumers with a focus on passionate stories, people and brewers. Craftroads is founded on over sixty years of industry experience and a shared passion for exceptional craft beer. Inspired by each amazingly unique backstory, style & flavor of diverse craft brewers, Craftroads hopes to not only provide the best beer, but also the best stories to consumers. Through creating personal relationships with brewers and consumers, Craftroads offers a unique vision that connects the priorities of both brewers and retailers, built around consumer needs in a growing market.
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