Topeka will soon have three local Craft Breweries. Blind Tiger Brewery & Restaurant has been brewing award winning fresh local beer and serving great food to a thirsty city in Topeka at 37th St. and Kansas Ave. for over 21 years.
Happy Basset Brewing Company at 6032 SW 29th St. in the Villa West Shopping Center is diligently working on their brewing system, their many required permits and licenses, and are finishing off their tasting room and plan to open in July of this year.
Norsemen Brewing Company at 830 North Kansas Ave. in NOTO has taken possession of their building, has their brewing system on order, and expects to open sometime in the Fall of 2016.
These three Craft Breweries have collaborated on a brand new and really old beer called “Topeka Beermuda Triangle.” Here is a description of this beer.
Topeka Beermuda Triangle Beer 5.8% ABV, 37 IBU’s Collaboration Beer Old School Topeka Style. This amber colored lager beer has a toasty caramel malt aroma and flavor. Hop aroma, and flavor is low, the bitterness is medium. We used whole hop cones to stay as close to the 1882 brewing methods as possible for the sake of authenticity. For this brew we use a kind of fermentation method brewers were forced to employ before refrigeration was available. We use lager yeast but we ferment it at ale temperatures. After primary fermentation it is then lagered (cold conditioned) for 7 weeks.
This collaboration is a good example of the fraternal atmosphere in the burgeoning craft beer industry. All across America Craft Brewers do not look at each other as competitors - they look at each other as fraternity members. This unique feeling of cooperation among Craft Brewers is one of the many appealing aspects of the craft beer industry.
This brotherly feeling between Craft Brewers is already in evidence right here in Topeka. These three breweries, one of long standing, and two in the process of starting up, have already brewed a beer cooperatively and jointly. John Dean, Brewmaster at Blind Tiger Brewery & Restaurant, invited the brewers at Topeka’s two new breweries to join together with him in brewing this collaboration beer.
Topeka Beermuda Triangle was brewed, fermented and conditioned on the brewing system at the Blind Tiger Brewery, with ingredients supplied by the Blind Tiger Brewery. The recipe for this new beer was created jointly by the brewers from all three breweries.
It will be on tap for the First Friday events this coming June 3rd. Blind Tiger Brewery will have it on tap at their location at 37th and Kansas Ave. Norsemen Brewing Co. will be serving it at their location at 830 n Kansas Ave in NOTO. Happy Basset Brewing Co. will be serving it at the First Friday celebration at Kaw Valley Bank on North Kansas Ave.
John Dean, Brewmaster at Blind Tiger Brewery said, “If you start at the Blind Tiger Brewery and draw a line west to the Happy Basset Brewing Company, then north over the river to the Norsemen Brewing Company, then back to the Blind Tiger, and you’ll see the Topeka Beermuda Triangle! We thought the best way to welcome Topeka’s new Microbreweries to town was invite them to brew a collaboration beer with us. They came in and we decided on a style of beer that was popular for Topeka Brewer August Herboldscheimer and his Topeka Steam Brewery way back in 1882.
Jared Rudy, proprietor of Norsemen Brewing Company in NOTO said, “Beermuda Triangle” showcases the camaraderie of the craft beer industry. It’s one of the reasons why we entered into the industry. It’s all about the love and art of the craft of beer. Everybody in this industry, from the equipment makers to consumers, are in it for the same reason; the love of craft beer. This is one of the few industries where everybody works together to continue to innovate and grow the craft. We look forward to serving this first collaboration beer at the June First Friday in NOTO at our location at 830 N. Kansas Ave."
Eric Craver, proprietor of Happy Basset Brewing Company said, "Since we have started getting into the Craft Beer industry, we couldn't be more excited with how much help everyone has been for us as a new brewery. We are especially grateful to the Blind Tiger Brewery because they have taught Topeka what great beer tastes like and this collaboration has really helped us to feel what the industry is all about!"
“American Craft Brewers are artisans that rather than working in paint, or photography… they’re working in beer.” –Tim Meyers, Strange Brewing
