With the anniversary party fast approaching, it is time to get everyone up to speed on what to expect at our 6th anniversary party.
We are hosting a party of epic proportions at Wichita Brewing Company & Pizzeria West on Friday, August 4th. Then, doing it all over again on Saturday, August 5th at Wichita Brewing Company & Pizzeria East. If you have never been before, here is a quick run down of what happens; release new beers, canned beer specials, draft specials, live music, anniversary swag, new swag, and Hopperoni Express serving pizza to the patio party.
New Beer Releases:This is always the fun part at Wichita Brewing Company. Brewer's creativity coming together to showcase new beers that we have been saving for this special occasion. There will be new canned beers that come from Production, new brews from the East location, new brews from the West location, and some small one-off beers that stem from our year-round beers. Let's start with the new canned beers coming from our production facility:
Scicilia Sour Red is the highlight of all the beers we are releasing this weekend. This beer has been aging in red wine barrels and our oak foeder (a large wooden storage vessel) for over a year. The idea of this beer was formed about 4 years ago when we first got some wine barrels delivered to our west location. One of the wine barrels that we received was stamped on the end with the word "Scicilia." Light bulbs went off in our head as that would make a really cool beer name. The idea was to fill the wine barrels with different beers and sour them in different ways and come up with our own unique blend that we can call our own. We have released a beer at WBC in the past named Scicilia, however, that is not what this new release is going to taste like. This version of Scicila came from a small test batch at our production facility where we experimented with souring our Mass Hysteria Rye. The results were amazing... From there we wanted to take this new found knowledge and turn it into the base of our sour barrel program. Now with a once used 60 barrel foeder (Catherine III was the inaugural beer in the foeder) and 30 freshly dumped wine barrels, we had some art to make. The foeder was filled with a kettle soured rye ale (not the Mass Hysteria recipe) and fermented with Brettanomyces, or commonly known simply as "Brett." The burgundy color and the spice of the rye blend perfectly with the cherry tartness/sour characteristics that comes from the Brett. This makes up 70 percent of the beer. The 30 red wine barrels are now filled with two different types of sours. Half of the barrels were filled with that same rye ale, but fermented with a different strain called Roeselare Ale Blend. This strain requires its own blog for describing, but these barrels are just going to sit and age. The other 15 wine barrels were filled with a light straw-colored kettle soured brew that fermented in stainless using our house yeast. This strong wood and wine flavored light sour makes up 15 percent of Scicilia. The other 15 percent of the blend comes from one of our most popular beers not in a can, Belgian Dubbel! The Dubbel's color made it an easy choice for consideration and the sweetness of the candi sugar in the Dubblel adds a unique layer to Scicilia. It took many different blending sessions with many different beers to come up with this combination. I know, hard work... We hope that you enjoy our first barrel-aged canned sour.
Oztoberfest, is our German-style Marzen or more popularly known as Oktoberfest. This will be our first time releasing this lager. Our traditional style Oktoberfest brings a big malt character with a touch of hops. A Kansas inspired label for an "Oz" inspired beer. This beer will be as fresh as it gets as it is being canned on August 3rd. We hope you enjoy our first Oktoberfest in a can.
F'N Ned is making it's way back on tap after brewing a small batch of it at the East brewery. F'N Ned has been one of our most asked for beers ever. A sour IPA that was released in cans a few months ago only to last a short time on the market.
Peachy Wheat is also making its way back on tap. An easy drinking wheat beer with fresh peaches added during fermentation. A popular summer seasonal that never lasts long enough for most fans of this beer. A seven barrel batch was made so it should hang around for a bit. Cox Farms, off south Seneca in Wichita, is where we go for our fruit. One of the more difficult fruits to use according to the brewers...
Farmhouse Ramble, coming from the West brewery, is a highly hopped Belgian Saison. This beer debuted last year and only lasted a short time. Light in color and moderately high hop aromas and flavors from Calypso and Amarillo make this an extremely satisfying and flavorful beer. Belgian yeast characteristics are complimented with hints of rye malt spiciness are what make up the backbone of this beer.
These next beers come from our production facility after we unretired our 1.5 bbl brite tanks to use for some special releases. Beers were transferred through our centrifuge (beer clarifier) into our 60 bbl brites. Then, 70 gallons were portioned off into the small brite tanks.
Pickle Ball is our Longball Craft Lager dosed with dill seed. This creates a dill pickle flavored light lager that may or may not help with muscle cramps. Who doesn't like a good dill pickle?
CVVVP is our Valleyview Vanilla Porter with cherries. A perfect fruit match for this year-round staple. A combination of sweet dark and tart cherries were used.
V.6.Fruit is our beloved V.6 with grapefruit. We took lots of fresh red grapefruits and halved them before carving out all the lovely pulp and juices into the V.6 IPA. The resulting beer features perfect harmony between the juiciness of the grapefruit and the citrus-forward characteristics of Cascade and Amarillo hop additions.
Seal Team 6 that was brewed for some new acquired whiskey barrels, will also be on tap. We filled eight George Dickel rye whiskey barrels with just enough left over to fill the small brite tank. A slight tweak in this version as we cut some of the aroma hops knowing it is being brewed for aging purposes. No special ingredients were added in the brite.
One way of saying thanks to everyone that have ever supported Wichita Brewing Company is to offer all these beers and then to discount them. We obviously wouldn't be able to do any of this if it wasn't from the support of all of you. For that, we say Thank You! Now for the beer specials.
$3 cans include: V6 IPA, WBC Wheat, Valleyview Vanilla Porter, 5:02 Amber, Longball Craft Lager, Oztoberfest.
$4 cans include: Catherine III, 5:03 Imperial Red Ale, V12 Imperial IPA.
$1 off all draft
Tentative Draft Line up. Only say tentative because the Pineapple Gose and the Between the Rind Watermelon Wheat might run out before this weekend. You will notice some beers missing from the list, they will be offered in cans only.
Just Peachy Wheat, Thunder Blonde, English Mild, F'N Ned, One Hopper, Belgian Dubbel, V.6.Fruit, CVVVP, Pickle Ball, Berlemoner, Barrel Medley, Scicilia, Pineapple Gose, Loosey Goosey, Serenity Now, Between the Rind, Farmhouse Ramble, Seal Team 6, Rootbeer, Cream Soda.
With the release of Scicilia we are offering it on tap for on premise drinking. And we are selling 4 packs to go for enjoying off premise at your leisure. You will be able to get it at our party before it hits the market! To sweeten the pot of purchasing a 4 pack to go, we are offering a FREE WBC branded 13 oz Belgian beer glass from 11 AM to 3 PM both Friday and Saturday. Be there early to get your free glass!
We have some new WBC swag available for purchase including our anniversary shirt. Also, a new tank top with men's and women's sizing. Pick up some new WBC sunglasses or WBC koozie for the patio party. Out East only on Saturday we discounting some of our merchandise that has been discontinued. This mini "sidewalk" sale will last from 11 - 3 PM with limited sizes and quantities available.
Looking to try a new pizza this weekend? We just started serving the new Dempsey's Burger Pub pizza of the month. The ingredients are red sauce base drizzled with Dempsey's house made ketchup, American and shredded white cheddar cheese, Dempsey's house-made pickles, caramelized onions, and beef then topped with baby arugula and Dempsey's house-made 1000 island dressing. It's called The Up-N-Down-Za!
(Pictured with bacon)
On Friday, at WBC West, we will section off the north parking lot to expand our patio for the night. Reach for the Sky, a bluegrass band, will be highlighting the music. A fun band that has played for us in previous years. You can find more information about them at reachfortheskyband.com Hopperoni Express will be slinging pizza for the patio. All our cans will be available outside too. Want something not offered on the patio but is inside? Just tell a server and we will go inside and get it for you.
On Saturday, at WBC East, we will section off the west parking lot to expand the patio for the night. Jenny Wood and the Watcher's will be highlighting the music. Jenny Wood sang at this last year's Riverfest and we are excited to have them playing at our party. You can find more information about Jenny Wood at Jennywoodmusic.com Hopperoni Express will be slinging pizza for the patio. All our cans will be available outside too. Want something not offered on the patio but is inside? Just tell a server and we will go inside and get it for you.
We hope to see everyone there this weekend. Cheers!
Respectfully,
Wichita Brewing Company
Written by Kyle Banick and edited by Jeremy Horn and Ned Vahsholtz.
