Saint Arnold Icon Red is a Fresh Take on a Beer Style Enjoyed for Thousands of Years
HOUSTON, October 28, 2015 – Saint Arnold Brewing Co. (www.saintarnold.com), the oldest craft brewery in Texas, is offering a bit of history with its latest offering in the Icon Series. Saint Arnold Icon Red is an American Roggenbier, a fresh take on the Rye Ale style enjoyed for thousands of years in Germany. Saint Arnold Icon Red – American Roggenbier will begin appearing on tap and in four-packs of 12-ounce bottles as supplies of Saint Arnold Icon Gold – Belgian-Style Wit run out.
Roggen is German for ‘rye,’ the key ingredient in Saint Arnold Icon Red – American Roggenbier. Unlike a traditional German Roggenbier, which is dominated by the flavor and aroma of rye, Saint Arnold’s American Roggenbier goes easier on the rye and is hopped like an American pale ale, using Cascade and Chinook hops.
“I wanted to create more balance to allow the other flavors and aromas to shine through, so we limited the rye to about 15 percent of the malt bill,” said Brewer Dennis Rhee. “The spicy, hearty rye is complemented by the citrusy, piney notes from the hops and the clove phenols and banana esters from the weizen yeast. The hops also add an unexpected bitterness that you usually don’t see in Roggenbiers.”
The Roggenbier style fell out of favor about 500 years ago. The Bavarian Beer Purity Law of 1516 known as Reinheitsgebot limited brewers to using only malted barley in their grain bills. The style was rediscovered about 25 years ago.
“Rye is a really interesting ingredient that adds new dimensions to beer flavors, just like it does when baking bread, which is what we showcased earlier in the year with Saint Arnold Icon Blue – Rye IPA,” said Saint Arnold Founder/Brewer Brock Wagner. “The Icon Series allows us to honor beer styles we appreciate while still being creative, in this case starting with a beer style that is literally thousands of years old and giving it a twist to reflect modern tastes.”
The Saint Arnold Icon Series is a line of rotating beers that complement the brewery’s year-round and seasonal offerings. Saint Arnold Icon Red features a striking metallic red and black label with an image of the brewery’s namesake, St. Arnold of Metz, the patron saint of brewers.
Specifications:
Original Gravity: 1.059 Final Gravity: 1.014 Alcohol Content: 5.8% ABV Bitterness: 52 IBUs
The next beer in the Saint Arnold Icon Series will be Saint Arnold Icon Blue – Coffee Porter, which is scheduled for release in February 2016. Learn more about the Saint Arnold Icon Series at http://www.saintarnold.com/beers/icon.html.
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About Saint Arnold Brewing Company
Saint Arnold Brewing’s 16 brews are made and sold by the company’s staff of 80 dedicated employees. Ranked 46th on the Brewers Association list of top craft breweries, Saint Arnold was listed by USA Today as one of the “10 great places to see what’s brewing in beer,” and Smart Meetings magazine named it among the “Top 5 breweries to host an event.” Saint Arnold is located at 2000 Lyons Avenue and its brewery tour and tasting is offered every weekday at 3:00 P.M. and Saturdays starting at 11 A.M. For more information on Saint Arnold’s eight year-round and five seasonal beers as well as root beer, log on to www.saintarnold.com.
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