Wicked Weed Brewing Set to Release World Cup Inspired Beer Series
Asheville, NC – With the start of the World Cup on June 12th, Wicked Weed Brewing will release a series of beer inspired by traditional ingredients and/or beer style from countries around the world. Head brewer of Wicked Weed, Luke Dickinson, has worked for months to source ingredients worldwide and developed 9 new beers that will be released over the next month.
“I was inspired by the idea of the whole world coming together for one event,” said Luke. “The World Cup gives us a unique opportunity to showcase beer styles from around the world and celebrate them in an interesting way.”
The styles and ingredients of each of the beers run the spectrum ranging from a take on Ethiopian Tej honey wine, to a traditional South American corn beer called Chicha, to a light pepper beer made with three varieties of hot peppers as a nod to Mexico.
“One interesting beer we are brewing is a Peruvian Chicha ale. It will be made with a variety of traditional spices including spearmint, cinnamon, and clove. Its a style of beer that varies greatly across regions of South America so nailing down one single recipe isn’t possible, a fact that gives us great flexibility. And to preemptively answer the inevitable question, no,” laughs Luke, “we aren’t going to chew the corn like Dogfish.”
Other notable ingredients include Chanterelles mushrooms sourced from France for a French saison, limes and sugar cane paired to create a caipirinha inspired beer and an English Bitter brewed with yeast that was physically brought back from the UK, by brothers Luke and Walt Dickinson, when they went to brew in England February 2014.
The World Cup series will be released over a few week time span, each week bringing on 2 – 3 new World Cup Series of Beers. The first tapping starts at 4pm on Thursday, June 12th, to coincide with the kickoff of the Brazil and Croatia game. The schedule of beers is listed below along with their specific inspirations and ingredients of interest.
Week of June 12th:
Country of inspiration: Brazil
Concept: To create a Caipirinha inspired ale
Ingredients of interest: Sugar cane rods and lime zest from 30 pounds of limes
Country of Inspiration: France
Concept: A saison brewed with French hops, French yeast and French mushrooms, Chanterelles
Ingredients of interest: French Aramis hops, French saison yeast, and Chanterelles sourced from France
Week of June 19th:
Country of Inspiration: Mexico
Concept: A light, spicy beer brewed with cilantro.
Ingredients of interest: Anaheim, Fresno and Habanero chilies, and cilantro.
Country of Inspiration: Germany
Concept: Traditional Bavarian Hefeweizen made with two uncommon German hops.
Ingredients of interest: Mandarina Bavaria and Huell Melon hops and Bavarian Hefeweizen yeast
Country of Inspiration: Australia
Concept: A 7% ABV ale brewed with 5 types of New Zealand or Australian hops and Lemon Myrtle.
Ingredients of interest: Orbit, Green Bullet, Wakatu, Pacific Gem and Pacific Jade hops and Lemon Myrtle.
Week of June 26th:
Country of Inspiration: England
Concept: An English bitter brewed with yeast brought back from Everards brewery in the UK when the Dickinson brothers brewed there last February.
Ingredients of interest: East Kent Golding hops, Everards Brewery house strand of yeast and Maris Otter barley.
Country of inspiration: Peru
Concept: Wicked Weed’s take on the local alcohol Peruvian Chicha with numerous traditional spices.
Ingredients of interest: Corn and barley base with spearmint, cinnamon, clove and lemon zest.
Country of Inspiration: Ethiopia
Concept: Brew a beer based on Tej, a honey wine that originates in Ethiopia made with gesho root.
Ingredients of interest: Gesho root and 300 pounds of Orange Blossom honey and Wild Blossom honey.
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