Sprecher Brewery

Sprecher Brewery is a brewery in Glendale, Wisconsin, USA. It was founded in 1985 in Milwaukee by Randal Sprecher, and is Milwaukee's first craft brewery since Prohibition. Sprecher produces an assortment of beers, flavored malt beverages, and sodas. Sprecher produces another line of beers under its Chameleon Brewing Company label that is well-respected but not widely available.

Sprecher Brewery Co. Inc.
IndustryAlcoholic beverages, soft drinks
Founded1985
HeadquartersGlendale, Wisconsin
United States
ProductsBeer, soda
Websitesprecherbrewery.com

Despite producing a full range of award-winning craft beers, the brewery is arguably best known for its Black Bavarian (schwarzbier) and premium sodas. Sprecher brews more root beer than all of its alcoholic beers combined.[1]

History

Founder Randal Sprecher, a California native, earned his first degree in oceanography and his second in brewing. He was employed by Pabst in Milwaukee. After just over four years at Pabst, he founded his own brewery in 1985. The new brewery was started on a budget of $40,000. Sprecher purchased equipment to keep costs down, including a 16-oz. bottling machine from Coca-Cola, and some of this equipment remains in use today.[2] The current Sprecher facility was acquired in 1994.

Production

Raw Wisconsin honey is used as a primary ingredient in its root beer, and Sprecher Ginger Ale uses locally grown ginger.

The brewery has started hop production, along with several others Wisconsin craft breweries, and has been producing small batches of fresh "green" hop brews.

Year-round beers
  • Special Amber - Vienna Lager
  • Black Bavarian - Schwarzbier
  • Hefe Weiss - Bavaria wheat ale
  • Pub Ale - British Brown
  • Abbey Triple - Belgian Triple
  • Shakparo (gluten free)
    Sprecher Shakparo
  • Piper's Scotch Ale - (smokey) Scotch Ale
  • IPA-2 (Double or Imperial) IPA
  • Hometown Brew - European-style lager
  • Grapefruit Radler - Wheat ale with grapefruit flavors
  • Hard Root Beer - Malt Beverage
  • Hard Ginger Beer - Malt Beverage
  • Hard Apple Pie - Malt Beverage

Seasonal beers

Seasonal beers include:

  • Stout - Dry Irish-style Stout(Spring)
  • Mai Bock - (Spring Bock)
  • Summer Pils - Czech Pilsner (Summer)
  • Oktoberfest - Marzen (Autumn)
  • Dopple Bock - (Winter)
  • Imperial stout - (Winter)
  • Winter Lager - Munich Dunkel Bock(Winter)(formerly Winter Brew)

Limited release beers
  • Barley Wine Ale
  • Czar Brew - Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
  • Commando - Bourbon Barrel Aged Scotch Ale
  • Beyon Braggot
  • XII - Belgian-style Quad
  • Generation Porter (Porter with cocoa and tart raspberry)
  • WIPL, Dry hopped with fresh Wisconsin Cascades WI Co-op hop yard)Amber Ale (formerly HopFuzion)
  • CitraBomb

Sodas
Sprecher root beer
  • Root Beer
  • Cream Soda
  • Puma Kola - Cola with vanilla + Cinnamon
  • Cherry Cola
  • Orange Dream - Orange + honey + vanilla
  • Ginger Ale - (Wisconsin Ginger)
  • Ginger Beer
  • Lo-Cal Root Beer
  • Cherry-Cran (cherry + cranberry + honey +WI ginseng)[formerly Ravin' Red]
  • Grape
  • Strawberry (Seasonal)
  • Red Apple (Seasonal)
  • Red Raspberry (Seasonal)
  • Raspberry (Seasonal)
  • Blueberry (Seasonal)
  • Maple Syrup Root Beer (Seasonal)

The Lo-Cal Root Beer is fairly rare in the soft drink industry in that it is sweetened with Sodium Saccharin rather than a newer artificial sweetner.

Chameleon Beers
  • Hop on Top, Aroma Hop Ale
  • Witty, White Wheat Ale brewed with spices
  • Firelight, English-style summer ale
  • Ryediculous, Rye IPA

Brewery Tour

Sprecher Brewery offers year-round tours of its facility, including the brew house, the refrigerated cellar, and the bottling line and warehouse. Tours conclude in the indoor beer garden where customers are welcome to sample a wide range of beers and sodas on tap.

Traveling Beer Garden

Sprecher has two sets of firetrucks and ambulances that serve as Milwaukee County Parks Traveling Beer Gardens from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Each set visits a Milwaukee County Park for ten (10) days, then moves to another location throughout the summer. A unique twist on Milwaukee's beer gardens at the turn of the 20th century, the Traveling Beer Gardens have proved to be a highly appreciated addition to Milwaukee County Parks and a sustainable private public partnership.

Recognition

Sprecher has earned awards for 25 different beer types in prestigious national and international competitions. Awards include: 2004 GABF Small Brewing Company of the Year and 2004 GABF Small Brewing Company Brewmaster of the Year. 2007 Australian International Beer Awards, Best of Show & Gold Medal - Russian Imperial Stout; Dopple Bock - Silver; Piper's Scotch Ale - Bronze; 2014 World Beer Cup, Gold - Black Bavarian (Schwarzbier); Bronze - Shakparo (Gluten free); 2004, Bronze - Winter Brew; 2002, Gold - Winter Brew. Several awards annually at both the Los Angeles International Beer Competition and the United States Open Beer Championships.

In a 2008, The New York Times taste test, four judges ranked Sprecher's number one among 25 root beers from across the United States for its "wonderfully balanced and complex brew."[3] A review in the October 2009 edition of Details also praised the root beer as "elegant."[4]

2005: Won "Most Deserving Small Business Office" Makeover from Xerox, Hon Furniture and Entrepreneur magazine. Featured on NBC's Today show.[5] In November 2006, a contestant on NBC's Deal or No Deal was offered a life-time supply of Sprecher's Root Beer, his favorite soda.[6]

  • Sprecher Brewery Logo Originally designed by Charlie Radtke, Milwaukee, WI.

See also

References
  1. Reddin, Matthew (13 August 2015). "Sprecher celebrates 30 years of beers, root and otherwise". Wisconsin Gazette. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  2. "Sprecher Brewery, Milwaukee, WI Revised". Good Beer Hunting. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  3. Asimov, Eric (25 June 2008). "A Drink in Search of a Frosty Mug". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  4. Details Magazine Proclaims Sprecher Root Beer “Elegant” SprecherBrewery.com (September 2009). Retrieved on 8-07-11.
  5. "Sprecher Brewing Co. Named 'Most Deserving' Of Small Business Office Makeover By Xerox, Entrepreneur Magazine" (Press release). 22 July 2005. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  6. Sprecher on Deal or No Deal SprecherBrewery.com (2007). Retrieved on 8-07-11.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.