Beer Run Blog

"Happy Accidents" Producing Great Beers

As someone who has young children and hangs out with other parents of little kids, I've heard the term "happy accident" a lot in recent years. But never have I heard it used twice in the same week to describe beers, as I have since Friday.

And if the beers in question are examples of what these happy accidents are, let's hope a lot more brewers can start conceiving their offerings in this way.

The beers in question are Caution Brewing's Mazu Belgian Sour, which the Lakewood brewery happened upon late last year, and Call to Arms Brewing's Majestic Wolf Lamp, which the Denver brewery officially releases on Thursday. And both are worth seeking out in a purposeful way.

Majestic Wolf Lamp, as artfully described by Call to Arms brewer Chris Bell (pictured at top), is a blend of two aged beers that didn't make a particularly good impression on their own. One was a Belgian quad that had one barrel that just didn't sing and the other was a petite saison that wasn't bad but just wasn't resonating with anyone.

So, brewers took the two, put them together in a 60/40 quad/saison blend and let them sit for months on oak, throwing in black currants to ramp up the cutting taste. And they've created one of the more complex beers yet to come from the brewery that is known more for its spot-on renditions of a wide range of styles, leading to a mouthfeel that Bell described perfectly as "sour raspberry jam."

Bottling the creation from just two barrels, Call to Arms hopes to produce at least 125 375-ml bottles that go on sale for $12 a pop at the brewery beginning at 3 p.m. Thursday. And if you think, "Oh, I'll just wait until they brew this out another time," think again about a beer that is 13 winding months in the making.

"Now that we've done this, we'll never be able to recreate it," Bell admitted, who acknowledged that before the blending, brewers were considering dumping these two barrels that only came to life when being conjoined.

Mazu doesn't have as dramatic a back story or as short a life span, as it's been on tap since the fall and will continue to be available in the taproom in the near future. But the brewery staff likes to call the beer their little surprise, and owner Danny Wang explained at this month's Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines Festival just what makes the beer so different.

Stuffed with the sorts of unusual ingredients that are the hallmark of Caution - in this case, orange peel, coriander and cardamom - Mazu is a Belgian-style golden ale aged in California red-wine barrels for 10 months. But while Brettanomyces and Saccharomyces have worked their magic on this beer, the souring aspect to it comes not from classic Lacto but from citric acid, giving this a smooth and sweet mouthfeel that presents a certain bite but not one that is harshly acidic.

"This is one of the most unusual beers you'll taste here," Wang said at the Beaver Run Resort in Breckenridge while surrounded by 140 other breweries trying to pitch that same story line. But in this case,  he was right, and he's created another signature taste among a bevy of one-of-a-kind creations on his menu.

There are more such stories out there, but the two of these give perfect example to what is so great about the growing and diversifying craft-beer scene. When you make something that's not exactly what you originally planned, don't dump it down the drain. Give it time, and that happy little accident may end up standing taller than the recipes that you and others slaved for months to perfect.

Labels: accidental beers, Barrel aging, Call to Arms Brewing, Caution Brewing, sour Belgian