New Frontier Kölsch: Created to Reflect San Francisco Brewing Culture

San Francisco breweries have come together to create New Frontier Kölsch, a beer that reflects the Bay Area in honor of San Francisco Beer Week.

Brewing members of the San Francisco Brewers Guild met at Fort Point Beer Company in January 2017 to create the collaboration.New Frontier comes in at 5.3 percent ABV and is a spin on the classic Kölsch. The brewers added Japanese satsuma to give it citrus notes; the addition of Pacific Northwest Douglas Fir adds a light pine aroma on the finish. Both ingredients were sourced from the region.

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“San Francisco craft beer culture has always looked for innovative ways to incorporate local resources into beers and New Frontier is another page of that story,” Mike Schnebeck, head brewer at Fort Point, told CraftBeer.com. “The Douglas fir tip tea was provided by a local company called Juniper Ridge that’s doing incredible things with wild-harvested botanicals. The satsumas are from a farm in the Central Valley and represent a snapshot of our agricultural cycle at the time this beer was brewed.”

San Francisco has a vibrant community of small and independent breweries. Schnebeck says New Frontier Kölsch is symbolic of the city’s innovative culture.

“There’s a constant buzz and energy in that scene and as brewers, we are right in the middle of it. This intensity keeps us constantly engaged and is a great motivator for improvement and creativity.”

While beer weeks give beer lovers a chance to explore new breweries and beers, brewers see the celebrations as a chance to celebrate, too.

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“Beer weeks are important to me because it’s the one time of the year where you can kind of focus on all the fun aspects of the job – socializing at events, enriching the culture of your community, and drinking great beer,” he says. “Beer weeks give you a quick opportunity to step back and enjoy everything that the people in this industry work so hard to create.”

SF Beer Week runs February 10 through February 19. New Frontier will be unveiled at the Opening Gala at Pier 48 on the first night of the celebration.

Jess Baker

Jess Baker walked into a beer fest in 2010 and realized beer had come a long way from what her dad had been drinking since the 70s. She served as editor-in-chief of CraftBeer.com from spring 2016 to spring 2020, bringing you stories about the people who are the heartbeat behind U.S. craft brewing. She's a runner, a die-hard Springsteen fan, a mom who is always scouting family-friendly breweries, and always in search of a darn good porter.

CraftBeer.com is fully dedicated to small and independent U.S. breweries. We are published by the Brewers Association, the not-for-profit trade group dedicated to promoting and protecting America’s small and independent craft brewers. Stories and opinions shared on CraftBeer.com do not imply endorsement by or positions taken by the Brewers Association or its members.