Joe Sixpack: The thirst grows for one-shot styles

AS IF AMERICA'S 1,500 breweries don't already produce an unimaginable variety of ales and lagers, now some are expanding their portfolios with series of one-offs that are testing the limits of our palates . . . and pocketbooks.

The highly popular specials - often called "reserve" beers - typically feature unusual or extreme flavors geared toward the breweries' most passionate followers. Devotees closely track the beers' yearly or monthly release dates on the Internet, hoping to pounce on the limited-edition brews before they're sold out.

When the Bullfrog Brewery in Williamsport announced it would release a special bottling of raspberry-flavored Frambozen earlier this month, for example, fans lined up outside before opening time. Its supply of $20 corked bottles was gone in 10 minutes.

Beer companies love that kind of excitement.

Amanda Johnson of Odell Brewing in Colorado said her brewery's Woodcut Series of oak-aged beers is good publicity for all of its brands. The one-offs, she said, show that "if we can make beers this spectacular, our everyday beers must be top-of-the-line as well."

Brewers love them because they're a change of pace.

"It's basically a way for us to entertain ourselves," said Chris Wilson, head brewer at Weyerbacher in Easton, which launched its Brewers' Select series on draft and 12-ounce bottles last year.

Weyerbacher's employees contribute ideas for new styles, hashing out recipes with each other and tinkering with ingredients. Each release is named after letters in the old ham-radio phonetic spelling alphabet. Alpha was a Belgian pale ale, Bravo a red wheat ale. Last month it released Foxtrot, a dark biere de garde.

Dozens of breweries are doing something similar.

Magic Hat (Vermont) brews an experimental style every season and calls it Odd Notion. Harpoon (Massachusetts) releases a new variety every couple months under its 100 Barrel Series. Cigar City (Florida) ages its Humidor Series on cigar box cedar.

The Sly Fox (Phoenixville, Royersford) Hop Project is a draft-only series that features a pale ale spiced with a different hop variety each month. (This month: the unusual Marynka hop from Poland.)

Full Sail (Oregon) lets its employees take turns hand-crafting a single batch in its Brewers Share series. The Midnight Brewing Project at Terrapin (North Carolina) is a collaborative series with Left Hand Brewing of Colorado.