Riverlands to Release New Cocktail-Inspired Series of Beers

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Jeremy Teel

Phone: 630-549-6293

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

11/20/2023

RIVERLANDS BREWING COMPANY CREATES NEW LINE OF COCKTAIL-INSPIRED ALES TO TAP INTO SPIRIT MARKET

ST. CHARLES, Nov. 20 – Riverlands Brewing Company, a small craft brewery that calls St. Charles, Illinois, its home, recently announced a new line of fruited sour ales that take aim at the growing Ready-To-Drink (RTD) and spirits markets and are set to release at their taproom on Friday, December 8.

The new series of beers, Cocktail Hour, features highly recognizable flavors most commonly found in popular cocktails, specifically of the tiki or tropical persuasion. Technically fruited sour ales, these beers use real fruit puree and 100% natural ingredients and extracts to recreate a wide array of famous cocktails.

The first entry in the series is Cocktail Hour: Painkiller. After souring the beer in the kettle and fermenting the sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide, real pineapple, orange, and cream of coconut are added to recreate its tropical, rum-based counterpart.

Served at the taproom in a specialty Tiki glass, a slice of dehydrated pineapple, and nutmeg garnish, Cocktail Hour: Painkiller will appeal to anyone who normally chooses fruitier, tropical beverages over lagers or IPAs.

“One of the things we’ve always felt strongly about is that beer can be for everybody,” says Eric Bramwell, head brewer and co-founder of the brewery. “Many folks think of beer as just one thing that they don’t like. But there’s so much variety out there now. This series expands on that by tying flavors back to cocktails people are already familiar with.”

Cocktail Hour: Painkiller will make its debut on the Riverlands tap list and in four packs of 16 ounce cans to-go on Friday, December 8. Two other versions, Cocktail Hour: Mai Tai and Cocktail Hour: Tiki Whiskey Sour, will be on tap while pours last as well, and Fernando’s Street Kitchen will be serving Hawaiian-inspired food from 5pm to 8pm to help celebrate the release.

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Oktoberfest: What's the Difference Between Märzen and Festbier?

Guten Tag!  Today's Brewer's Corner is distinctly German focused as this is the most wonderful time of the year in the lager world: Oktoberfest! 

We've got our own Oktoberfest Kickoff Party tomorrow, September 16th, at our St. Charles brewery and this year we brewed a special beer for it: our Fox Fest Festbier. 

What's a festbier you ask?  How is that different from the normal Oktoberfest beer I've been drinking since I cracked open an amber colored, caramelly Sam Adams Octoberfest for the first time?  What’s the difference between Märzen and Festbier? Well, I'll tell you.  

I'm not going to go into detail about THE Oktoberfest itself here, though it's a really interesting history that started with a wedding.  If you want, read up on it here: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oktoberfest

In my early craft beer years, I was an Oktoberfest beer fanatic.  Trips to the Bavarian Lodge in Lisle during this time of year carried the same excitement as a kid on Christmas morning.  I loved all the copper colored, malty lagers I could get my hands on. 

The thing I found interesting though when I looked at pictures of Oktoberfest in Munich was that the beer people were drinking didn't look like any Oktoberfest Märzen I was familiar with, it looked more like a golden pale lager.  

Finally, I got to go to Munich in 2010 and experience the Munich Oktoberfest first hand.  The moment I had my first liter of Spaten Oktoberfestbier placed in front of me and took a big sip, I was hooked on Festbier.  Several more liters (too many, I became what they refer to as a "beer corpse") followed as this new-to-me style was immensely drinkable, but still packed a bit of ABV punch.

Sometime after pale lager became the most popular beer style in the world, the beer served at Munich's Oktoberfest transitioned from the more traditional copper/amber Märzen style into the paler Festbier in the interest of drinkabilty, and thus I'm sure, increased beer sales.  Most of you are probably familiar with a Märzen style Oktoberfest beer.  Think notes of slightly toasted bread crust, fresh baked biscuits, and maybe a little caramel while hopefully not ever really tasting sweet. 

The lesser known style outside of the Oktoberfest itself is the Festbier.  This beer is almost like a Munich Helles after it's been hitting the weights.  Everything is amped up, but not into Maibock territory.  Festbier is stronger, maltier, and hoppier than Helles, but never loses that balance and always retains its drinkability.  

So, in celebration of this Tale of Two Oktoberfests, we bring you two seasonal lagers to be celebrated this weekend.  Though both have been on our tap list for a bit, our party is their time to shine.  Scarecrows in Lederhosen, our fall staple since our first year, returns, but no longer tiptoeing the line between the styles.  We committed to the Märzen style Oktoberfest this year with Scarecrows, featuring a heavier emphasis on its malt character. 

We also, for the first time, are serving up Fox Fest German-Style Festbier, our attempt to bring the beer consumed on the Theresienwiese in Munich home to you! 

Enjoy a liter of each this Saturday with me during our Oktoberfest in St. Charles. I'll be walking around in my Lederhosen, hopefully looking in better shape than this picture of me on Oktoberfest day one in Munich over a decade ago. 

- Eric Bramwell,
Co-Founder & Head Brewer
Riverland Brewing Company

It's White Pointer Week...but why?

Hi River Rascals, it's been a bit!  

I wanted to talk a bit about a beer we recently released that's very important to me, more so than the average hazy. Our beer, White Pointer Hazy Double IPA, is a nod to several things, but mostly the hobby of homebrewing... and sharks. That's two things that aren't typically related, right? Well, in this case, they are.

Back in 2012, I started into the hobby that would change the course of my life. My first batch of beer was on none other than the illustrious MR. BEER kit. That first batch could barely pass as drinkable, but the homebrewing bug bit me, hard. 

Fast forward some time and I was brewing full sized batches in my brother and his wife's kitchen. Our Amber Ale, Flood Waters, is a nod to these times, but that's another story. Around this time, Untappd came out and I wanted my friends and family to be able to check in the beer I was making if they wanted, so I thought of the name White Pointer Brewery for my homebrew brand.

You see, I'm a bit of a shark nerd. The numberof shark related TV shows, books, movies, and articles I've consumed over the years is pretty nuts. If you've been in our production area, you'll likely have seen a big poster of a White Pointer, more commonly known as the Great White, on the outside of our office.  Riverlands was pretty close to being named White Pointer, but the lack of sharks around St. Charles, IL, kinda sealed the deal on that one.  

As I got deeper into the hobby, and just beer in general, I decided to start a homebrew blog. Much to my surprise, some people actually read it. For any of you who are homebrewers, I just did my first post in years on that blog and added a scaled down homebrew recipe for White Pointer, the Riverlands beer, on there. Check it out. I was writing the blog basically right up to the start of Riverlands, and you can see the start of some of our beers there. 

While our beer Silt is directly descended from one of my homebrew recipes called White Death, another Great White reference, White Pointer is an all encompassing tribute to my homebrewing days, our sharky friends, and really just the homebrewing hobby in general. Our other Brewer, Nick, was also an avid homebrewer, so it's important for us to pay homage to those roots.

As for the shark end of things, our Taproom Manager, Jeremy, has some fun stuff planned for the next week revolving around this beer and a certain trademarked SHARK related WEEK of tv programming. We think you'll enjoy the fun and the tasty hops.

A poster with a great white shark hangs on the outside of our office wall behind a stack of grain bags.

This poster graced Eric’s walls for far too long. Now, it graces the outside of our office.

WHITE POINTER WEEK HIGHLIGHTS:

All week long, we'll have White Pointer specials going on, programming on the TV, amazing and hilariously awful shark movies, an in-depth look at our head brewer's shark obsession, a giant shark pool floaty giveaway, and more.

Plus...a fully decked out taproom to set the mood.

WHITE POINT WEEK SPECIALS (good 7/23 thru 7/30):
- $2.00 off pints or $1.00 off 10oz pours of White Pointer Double IPA
- $2.00 off 4-pack of White Pointer 16oz cans

White Pointer Week Food Truck and Music Lineup:

Sunday 7/23: Sunday Sessions: Argonaut Company Seafood Pop-Up & Grant Milliren LIVE

Monday 7/24: BYOF, open 4-8pm with 15% off all other drafts and cans to-go

Tuesday 7/25: Hippie Gourmet Grilled Cheese Food Co.

Weds 7/26: Chuck's Wood Fired Pizza & BINGO NIGHT

Thurs 7/27: BYOF

Friday 7/28: The Nerdy Dirty Food Pop-Up & Nicole Devine Music

Sat 7/29: TacoMadre - Food Truck & Avian Aura- Music

Sun 7/30: Sunday Sessions: Fernando's Street Kitchen & Pete Jive plus Open Mic Night with Katie B. at 6pm

A 4-pack of White Pointer Hazy Double IPA surrounded by, you guessed it...SHARKS.

Memorial Weekend Food Trucks & Live Music Schedule

Memorial Weekend is almost here, and our schedule is PACKED...including extended hours on Monday for Memorial Day.

𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝟓/𝟐𝟔, 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝟏𝟐-𝟏𝟎𝐩𝐦
5pm: Stix and Noodles Food Truck
6pm: Ken Slauf Live Folk & Bluegrass

𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝟓/𝟐𝟕, 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝟏𝟐-𝟏𝟎𝐩𝐦
12-sellout: Cheezie Mac's Food Truck
6pm: The Turntables Band Live Music

𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝟓/𝟐𝟖, 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝟏𝟐-𝟏𝟎𝐩𝐦
11am: 3rd Annual Ruck to Remember
12pm: Flyin Hawaiian Food Truck
1pm: Syahi Live Reggae-Rock
6pm: Open Mic Night with Katie B.

𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟗, *𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝟏𝟐-𝟖𝐩𝐦*
Special extended Memorial Day Hours 12-8pm
15% off drafts and cans to-go. BYOF!

Officially kick off unofficial summer with us this weekend and we'll make some memories together.

Sunday Sessions Return to our St. Charles Brewery this Summer

SUNDAY SESSIONS, our weekly showcase of local musicians and food vendors, return to our St. Charles brewery this summer running from Memorial Weekend through Labor Day Weekend.

John Till, one of our featured Sunday Sessions musicians, plays banjo, guitar, harmonica, and sings vocals.

That ‘s 15 (FIFTEEN!) Sundays of local live music and a delicious variety of food on the patio (weather pending) each and every week.

Weather not-so-good? The food and music continues indoors within the walls of our spacious taproom.

Check out this lineup and mark your calendars to be here every Sunday for a new, exciting, and scrumptious experience like no other in St. Charles.

SUNDAY SESSIONS AT OUR ST. CHARLES BREWERY

Food starts around 12pm, music at 1pm, every single week.

May 28:
Food: Flyin’ Hawaiian Food Truck
Music: Syahi

June 4:
Food: Tamales+
Music: Jason Benefield

June 11:
Food: The Argonaut Company Seafood
Music: Kristin Rose Kelly

June 18:
Food: Double R BBQ
Music: Andrew Huber

June 25:
Food: Flyin’ Hawaiian Food Truck
Music: Lucky Pickers Bluegrass Band

July 2:
Food: Tamales+
Music: Miles Over Mountains Duo

July 9:
Food: My Cocina Grill
Music: Ben & Jake Duo

July 16:
Food: The Curious Crow Pop-Up
Music: John Till

July 23:
Food: The Argonaut Company Seafood
Music: Grant Milliren

July 30:
Food: Fernando’s Street Kitchen
Music: Pete Jive

August 6:
Food: Tamales+
Music: Echo & Ransom

August 13:
Food: Cheezie Mac’s Food Truck
Music: Noah Gabriel

August 20:
Food: Fernando’s Street Kitchen
Music: Nicole Devine

August 27:
Food: The Argonaut Company Seafood
Music: Jim Green

September 3:
Food: Tamales+
Music: Keith Scott Blues


Riverlands Holiday Gift Guide

Find all your stocking stuffers and gift ideas at Riverlands this season!

Gift giving doesn’t have to be hard, especially for the beer lovers in your life. Take a look at some of our favorite gift options available this season and visit our online shop to reserve your gifts while you can!

Keep in mind that many of these items are locally made in VERY small batches, so sizes, colors, and item availability may be limited and subject to change.

APPAREL

Give someone’s winter wardrobe a BOOST with Riverlands apparel!

ORDER HERE>>

STOCKING STUFFERS

Choose from a bunch of items on our store that sure beat a lump of coal in your stockings!

ORDER HERE>>

Specialty Beers

What do beer lovers REALLY want?! BEER! Check out these limited offerings that are sure to be a big hit for the holidays.

ORDER HERE>>

Gift cards

Whether you want to give a physical gift card or e-gift card, we’ve got you covered! Stop by the taproom to grab a gift card in person, or order one online to send electrically!

A "New School" Approach to the West Coast IPA

Head Brewer/Co-Founder Eric Bramwell

Today's Brewer's Corner is all about one of our favorite styles of beer: West Coast IPA.

What that means today though can be different things to different people. Some think piney, resinous hops with a solid malt backbone. Others think it's dry and intensely bitter. Neither of these are wrong, but the direction we're leaning is what we've seen recently coming out of California which is a "new school" West Coast IPA.

What exactly is a New School WC IPA, or "California Style IPA"? We are essentially taking some of the things we love about our hazies, but upping the bitterness and drying everything out. Our take on the modern West Coast IPA is creating the perfect vessel to deliver hops to your taste buds. We don't want malt based flavors or residual sugar getting in the way of those hop flavors and aromatics.

That's not to say these beers will be overly bitter, resiney pine bombs. We take a similar approach that we do for our hazies for our hopping. A restrained, but present bitterness, and a heavy focus on late addition kettle hops as well as huge amounts of dry hops in the fermenter.

The beer that results from this approach will be a golden colored hoppy delight. Bitter enough to cleanse your palette and keep you ready for the next sip. Fruit forward hop flavors without necessarily coming across as juicy. Little residual sweetness getting in the way of maximum hop flavor. A clean, crisp fermenting yeast that doesn't create much in the way of flavor or aromatics on its own, letting the hops do all the heavy lifting.

So this brings us to Hornet's Bite, the first of what we'd consider our approach to this style of West Coast IPA. We brewed this beer once before, but tried a different yeast that didn't pan out the way we'd hoped. This latest batch is dialed in the way we plan to move forward for the style as a whole. Hopped with Nelson Sauvin and Mosaic hops, this beer will have notes of white grape, citrus, blueberry, with a background herbal note and just enough bitterness to keep it refreshing. We REALLY like how this batch came out and we hope you will too.

While we will continue to brew and improve our haze game, we're very excited to further explore this version of West Coast IPA. Expect to see more of these on our taps and out in distribution. There's a wide world of hops out there, and this is another wonderful style to explore them.

Cheers!
Eric Bramwell
Head Brewer/Co-founder
Riverlands Brewing Company

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1860 Dean Street Unit A
St. Charles, IL 60174

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