Nine Spot wins big for a beer style you've never heard of
Nine Spot wins big for a beer style you've never heard of
I swear, there's a beer style called Lichtenhainer, and Rochester's newest brewery won a prestigious gold medal for one named after a famed pop artist.
Note: This newsletter is supported by Rohrbach Brewing Co., a pioneering craft brewery in the city of Rochester.
Rochester’s newest brewery, one that has been open just eight months, won a prestigious medal for a beer style you’ve probably never heard of.
Nine Spot Brewing, 190 Monroe Ave., which opened last December in the shadow of the newly expanded Strong Museum, earned a gold medal in the historical beer category at the U.S. Open Beer Championship for its Roy Lichtenhainer, a sour smoked German-style wheat beer. (You read that correctly. Also, more on the name shortly.)
The Open is one of the largest beer competitions in the country — this year, it featured over 9,000 entries across 160 categories. Nine Spot entered only two beers in the competition. This win comes on the heels of earning a gold medal in the collaborative beer category at the recent New York State Craft Beer Competition for a beer it made with Greece’s Wood Kettle Brewing.
Under head brewer Mike Beebe, Nine Spot has quickly gained a following for its use of New York state ingredients and a focus on what makes the state unique. So it really shouldn’t be a surprise that Beebe crafted a goofy beer that’s a mix of sour, smoke, and wheat, one that’s rarely produced commercially. (Trust me, it’s wonderful, especially at 4.1 percent alcohol. It’s a surprisingly perfect summer crusher.)
“We always knew we wanted to create good beer, above and beyond anything else,” brewery co-founder Chris Nothnagle said. “Even if we were pushing the envelope, it still needs to be a good beer. Mike specifically said, ‘This is the weirdest thing I’ve ever made in my career.’ But at the same time, the moment we had it we knew it was a good beer, it was exactly what it was supposed to be.
“It’s weird. Love it or hate it, you’re gonna want to try it.”
And here’s where we rely on the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) guidelines for historical information about this historical beer. It’s also the same spot where Marina Nothnagle, one of Nine Spot’s founders, located inspiration for Roy.
According to category 27 of the BJCP guidelines (basically the homebrewers’ Bible), the style originated in Lichtenhain in central Germany and reached the height of its popularity in the late 1800s. “The Historical Beer category contains styles that either have all but died out in modern times, or that were much more popular in past times and are known only through recreations,” the guidelines state.
The category is meant to shine a light on overlooked styles. Specifically, a Lichtenhainer is traditionally a lower-gravity beer that is noted for being refreshing, highly carbonated, moderately sour, and low amount of bitterness.
The beer was originally released for the Lilac Festival in May and is still on draft now. Nothnagle surmises it’ll last a few more weeks.
Like much of its inspiration it garners from New York state, the beer is named for a famous artist from the state. Roy Lichtenstein, a prominent pop artist, has a name that fits the historical beer style. The label even mirrors his pop art style.
Through another local connection, the seeds of the beer were planted. Nothnagle said they love working with Ted Hawley from New York Craft Malt in Batavia, Genesee County. Hawley was trimming back lilacs on his property, when he contacted the Nine Spot crew and asked if it had any use for the wood.
“Ted knows that we like odd stuff when it comes to smoked malts,” Nothnagle said. So Hawley used the lilac wood to smoke some wheat malt. “We had no idea what we were going to do with it yet.” Marina Nothnagle found the inspiration while flipping through the BJCP guidelines.
Title sponsor: Rohrbach Brewing Co.
This work is made possible through support from Rohrbach Brewing Co. Rohrbach features two locations — its Beer Hall at 97 Railroad St. in the city of Rochester and its brewpub at 3859 Buffalo Road in the town of Ogden. Since 1991, Rohrbach has been producing classics and influencing the Rochester beer scene, including its iconic Scotch Ale.
The brewery’s support allows this work to remain free for this audience. So make sure to get out to Rohrbach and support one of the best establishments in our area.
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