No April foolin', Fort George Brewery announces upcoming release of Serious Seltzer and Hold the Pickle
Press Release
Calling this past year unprecedented is an understatement. The brewing community, along with the rest of the world, has been absolutely jarred by the Covid-19 pandemic. But while a lot of breweries have suddenly found themselves in a pickle, Barrel Baron Dave Coyne has embraced the challenge, keeping the puncheons of Astoria full. The fermentation specialists at Fort George have stayed busy experimenting with small batches on the pub system, inoculating beers (with only the good bacteria), and looking toward the future.
And just what future does Coyne see? Pickles.
“I mean, we brew a lot of IPAs out here,” Coyne confesses. “But we’re always looking to expand into new areas of agriculture and culinary traditions. To me, pickles are the perfect vegetable to pair with a beer.”
And pair with it he has. His latest mixed culture creation, Hold the Pickle, is a 3.6% ABV barrel fermented table beer and conditioned on cucumbers and sea salt.
“Lightly tart, fruity and almost tropical, with a strong cucumber profile that turns leafy green,” Dave adds. “The result is a slightly acidic, funky & fruity pickle bomb that delights the senses.”
But Dave isn’t relying solely on pickles to preserve the future of the company. Noticing an obvious trend in the malt beverage industry, the brewery is also releasing its very first hard seltzer, in a typical Fort George fashion.
“We’re serious about our seltzers,” Dave stresses. “I’m not even joking. We fermented this seltzer in freshly emptied wine barrels from the Willamette Valley, using our blend of wild yeast and lactic acid. We even propagated that yeast in apple juice, to remove any residual gluten. Then we added a serious amount of raspberry and blackberry puree to juice the heck out of it.”
Serious Seltzer with mixed berries was hand-packed into 16-ounce brights for can conditioning. Seriously. This will hopefully be followed by Serious Seltzer Mimosa within a few months. Both are extremely limited. But when it comes to pickle beers, does size matter?
“This first batch of Hold the Pickle is quite small,” Dave admits. “But if our cucumber contracts can be secured, Fort George will be able to increase production and get more of this zesty beer out to the Pacific Northwest.”
2020 was a challenging year, without a doubt. But for the brew staff at Fort George, it has also been an opportunity for innovation. “You know, when faced with a difficult situation, a lot of people like to say hold my beer,” Dave responds. “But in this case, I like to say hold my pickle.”
Look for 500ml bottles of Hold the Pickle to be released in early May. Serious Seltzer Mixed Berry is available for pre-orders through FortGeorgeBrewery.com starting today, with beer shipping out on Tuesday, April 13th. Available in four-packs and on tap at the pub starting Saturday, April 10th.
Fort George Brewery is located in historic downtown Astoria, Oregon. Their wood-fired restaurant is open seven days a week, from noon to 8pm. Distributed only in the Pacific Northwest.
