They're called collaboration brews, these brews designed by committees of aficionados and made in batches as small as two kegs.
Flying Fish made one, for example. So did the Feury brothers. Patrick (Nectar in Berwyn) and Terence (Fork in Old City) Feury collaborated with Bob Covaleski of Victory Brewing. The result, a golden pale ale dubbed Fists of Feury, will be on tap at beer dinners at Fork on Tuesday and at Nectar on June 13. The brothers are contributing recipes to each other's menus those nights, too.
Sly Fox Brewery worked with Stoudt's, Tröegs, and Yards to make Beer Week's Official Collaboration Beer, the keg Mayor Nutter will tap Friday.
And at Sierra Nevada's Beer Camp, Russell collaborated with close to a dozen of his bbb (best beer buddies) to develop a brew they're calling Xporter.
Tom Peters of Monk's Cafe, Matt Gier of the Beer Yard distributorship in Wayne, Greg Martinez of Exton Beverage, and Terry McNally of London restaurant in Fairmount were among Russell's collaborators.
"First you have to imagine the setting," Russell says. "Here we are in this tranquil valley of the Sierra Nevada mountains, about an hour or so outside of Sacramento. Barley and hops grow in a meadow there, and nearby are two brew houses and a third pilot brewery."
That's where Russell's group met with Sierra Nevada's staff, "really wonky guys who understand the science of beer-making - how the yeast interacts with the sugars produced by the grains you choose. It's all very high-tech," Russell says.
He and his crew decided on the alcohol content, the yeast, the grains, how it would be brewed, and what other ingredients would be added (Terry McNally was big on adding almonds, which grow so plentifully in California).
