Griz’s Lawnmower Ale – SF Beer Week 2014 Tribute Beer
(San Francisco, CA) – Huddled in garages, cramped kitchens and tiny backyards, many San Francisco homebrewers make beer with advice, equipment, and ingredients from San Francisco Brewcraft. It’s been the city’s go-to homebrew store since the mid 90’s. Greg Miller, better known as Griz, was the owner and homebrew sage, until he passed away on September 23rd, 2013.
In celebration of Griz’s life and SF Beer Week, the San Francisco Brewers Guild is proud to announce the release of Griz’s Lawnmower Ale. Griz influenced and guided many homebrewers and would be professionals in San Francisco. His presence in the beer community will be profoundly missed.
Members of the San Francisco Brewers Guild and employees at San Francisco Brewcraft created Griz’s Lawnmower Ale. It will debut at the SF Beer Week Opening Gala on February 7th. Then it will appear at guild member breweries and a handful of bars and restaurants in San Francisco.
Lawnmower Ales are loosely described as crisp lagers or pale ales that are low in alcohol, and as the name implies, pair nicely with back breaking yard work. It was the most common recipe Griz gave to first-time homebrewers. Griz’s Lawnmower Ale was created using the exact same ingredients, but with a greater emphasis on the hops.
After creating a test batch at SF Brewcraft, the final version of Griz’s Lawnmower Ale was made at Magnolia Brewing’s new facility in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood. Brewers Supply Group generously donated the Rahr Alix 2-row, Glenn Eagle Floor Malted Maris Otter, Castle Cara Ruby, and Grain Millers Oats for the total malt bill, while Oregon’s Indie Hops donated the Mt. Hood and Liberty hops used in the boil and for dry hopping. The finished beer is 30 IBU’s and 5% alcohol by volume.
According to Kim Sturdavant, brewmaster at Social Kitchen & Brewery, “Griz’s Lawnmower is a hoppy American Blonde Ale with a distinct spicy, grassy, and floral hop profile. It steers away from the modern hop trends of dank, resinous, and tropical fruit bombs. I like it for that reason, as I’m sure Griz would, too.”
VIDEO: Learn more about Griz and the beer by watching this video created by Oct28 Productions.
(Note: The black and white photo of Greg Miller featured on the beer label above was taken by Chris Gaede.)
