Generally when something big hits the national or international beers scene we in Utah tend to get overlooked - due to the difficult nature of the states beer buying process. I don't pretend to understand the inner-workings of the Utah's purchasing system. Suffice it to say that it's a needlessly difficult process for everyone involved.
That's why I was surprised to see that a rare collaboration beer between Weihenstephan, one of the world's most important breweries and Samuel Adams would be making it's way to the Beehive State.
The brewers at Weihenstephan watched what was going on in the States and decided they should innovate and make a new beer, within the German purity law. And they decided couldn't do it well enough on their own, that they could use a little assistance from an innovative American Brewery. Sam Adams fit the bill.
Weihenstephan sits on a hill outside Munich where brewers have been making beer for nearly a thousand years. Weihenstephan is not only the oldest brewery in the world but it's also the largest and best brewing university in the world. It's the Harvard of beer.
They have professors of hops, yeast, fermentation, brewhouse, etc. They are also the research center for the German brewing industry. In Germany it is considered so important that it's one of only two breweries owned by the Bavarian government - along with Hofbrauhaus. It's a national treasure.
This fall the two breweries are going to be launching a beer called Infinium, It will be the first of three beers released by the new collaboration. The others, Valtus and MXL are to follow sometime in 2011. Infinium is described as a combining elements of Dom Perignon, Noble Pilsener, Chateau d'Yquem and Weihenstephaner Hefeweizen. It's said to be dry without being thin. And it's acidic without being sharp.
This is the first new beer style to come out of Germany in a hundred years and it should be hitting liquor store shelves hopefully before the Holidays.
So what do you think, is this just another gimmick or is it the real deal?
Prost!
