Collaboration celebration planned for Bière de Mai, a special brew for World Beer Cup
What started as a friendship forged 15 years ago has manifested as a collaboration beer between New Belgium Brewingand Blackberry Farm Brewery. Bière de Mai, a late Spring wild ale blended with foeder-aged sour beer, will make its official debut at an event during the World Beer Cup/Craft Brewers Conference on May 2 in Nashville.
The public is invited to celebrate this amazing collaboration from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.on Wednesday, May 2 at Nelson's Green Brier Distillery, 1414 Clinton St., Nashville, TN. Tickets for this event cost $20 and include unlimited pours of Biere de Mai and a wide assortment of New Belgium and Blackberry Farm Brewery brews.
Bière de Mai was expertly crafted by Lauren Limbach, New Belgium's Wood Cellar Director and Blender, and Travis Hixon, Blackberry Farm Brewery Brewmaster, who first met while they were judging at the 2003 Great American Beer Festival. The beer plays to the many strengths of both breweries, according to Limbach.
"I'd describe the flavor as restrained nirvana," Limbach said. "We did everything with a light touch. The formulation is so complex and tricky and everything had to dovetail together to create this balanced and easy drinking beer."
Using 100% Troubadour Maltings grain in the base farmhouse ale, Bière de Mai features both foeder-aged dark and golden sour ales, complemented by a secondary fermentation with Brett brux. For those who cannot attend the debut celebration, this 7.7% ABV beer will also be available in very limited quantities at select accounts in Nashville, Fort Collins, CO, and Asheville, NC.
"We were envisioning the spring season when we were creating this, and I think it comes through beautifully," Hixon said. "A wheated creaminess, some citrusy floral funk, the restrained but crisp tartness; yet the Troubadour malts still show through beautifully. Layered, soft, and complex. We definitely won't wait so long to do this again."
For more information on the beer release party and to purchase tickets, please visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/new-belgium-brewing-blackberry-farm-brewery-biere-de-mai-release-party-tickets-44887720380
About New Belgium Brewing
New Belgium Brewing, makers of Fat Tire Amber Ale and a host of Belgian-inspired beers, is recognized as one of Outside Magazine's Best Places to Work, one of the Wall Street Journal's Best Small Businesses and tops Bicycling Magazine's Best Companies for Cyclists. The 100% employee-owned brewery is a Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Business as designated by the League of American Bicyclists, one of World Blu's most democratic U.S. businesses, and a Certified B Corp. In addition to Fat Tire Amber Ale, New Belgium brews sixteen year-roundbeers: Citradelic Tangerine IPA, Fat Tire Belgian White, The Hemperor HPA, Voodoo Ranger IPA, Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA, Voodoo Ranger 8 Hop Pale Ale, Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze IPA, Sour Saison, Honey Orange Tripel, Dayblazer Easygoing Ale, Tartastic Fruit Beer Series, 1554 Black Lager, Bohemian Pilsner, Abbey Belgian Style Ale, Trippel and a gluten-reduced beer, Glutiny Pale Ale. To learn more, visit NewBelgium.com and follow the brewery on Facebook, Twitter orInstagram.
About Blackberry Farm Brewery
The Blackberry Farm Brewery team began producing beer in 2011, selling their products to Blackberry Farm guests and a few select restaurants in the Southeast. In response to increased demand, they moved into a larger production facility in Maryville, TN in 2015 and expanded distribution to 36 states. In keeping with the sense of place at Blackberry Farm, the brewery and processes are rooted in centuries old traditions. Blackberry Farm Brewery is respectful of the time-honored methods of making beer, while constantly pushing the boundaries to employ modern techniques to enhance the complexity of releases. To learn more, please visit www.blackberryfarmbrewery.com