Fullsteam Brewery in North Carolina has made a small change in the signage it uses at beer festivals.<\/p>\n
A line that previously read \u201cAUTUMN LAGER festbier, 6% ABV, 99% local\u201d now reads \u201cAUTUMN LAGER festbier, 6% ABV, 99% L.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fullsteam founder Sean Lilly Wilson explained why in the brewery\u2019s newsletter.<\/p>\n
The goal is two-fold: first, to intentionally have people ask “What is “L?”” That question provides an opportunity for dialogue. It allows us to share what we mean by local and why we believe it matters.<\/p>\n
Secondly, the effort is to ultimately normalize it. Why waste time on IBUs when it’s a meaningless measurement of perceived bitterness? Why bother with SRM (a color metric) when you generally know a pils is going to be light and a porter dark? <\/p>\n
L matters to us and to a growing number of breweries. L to us means Southern-sourced (overwhelmingly North Carolina) from independent farmers, foragers, maltsters, and tree growers.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, we want customers to care more about origin and how buying local can strengthen the state’s agricultural sector. For us and a number of L-centric breweries, that matters more than specious statistics and formulas.<\/p>\n
Truly local beer is a metric worth measuring. But in a No Laws When You’re Drinking Claws<\/em> era, we have to find new ways to make it matter.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Fullsteam<\/a> has spent more than a half million dollars on local ingredients — local being Southern states, mostly North Carolina — since opening in 2010. \u201cI hope to ramp that up each year, to where that $500k isn’t over nine years, but every year!\u201d Wilson wrote via email. <\/p>\n
The ingredients and where they come from:
\nMalted corn: From Riverbend Malt House in Asheville and Epiphany Craft Malt in Durham.
\nMalted barley: Foundation, Ruby and Vienna from Epiphany.
\nMalted triticale: From Epiphany.
\nHops: Aramis from France and Saaz from Germany.
\nYeast: House lager yeast (not of North Carolina origin).<\/p>\nLOCAL CONNECTIONS<\/h5>\n
Via Josh Chapman at Black Narrows Brewing Co.<\/a><\/em> <\/p>\n
\nSaturday was the @VACraftBeer<\/a> Blue Ribbon festival at the state fair. It\u2019s a farm-forward, ag-focused fest, and one of my favorites. Jeff from @murphyrudemalt<\/a> came and did mini-mashes of beers served at the fest using his malt for side by side tasting. pic.twitter.com\/3Vs4ZGmmL0<\/a><\/p>\n
— joshchapman (@joshchapman) October 7, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n