(The following is a sponsored post from Round Guys Brewing Company.)
Wow, can you believe Round Guys opened 10 years ago?
In that time, we’ve witnessed Lansdale change quite a bit. Over the years, you’ve supported us, and we’ve supported you. Your curiosity kept us afloat in the challenging times — and believe me, there were very very challenging times — and our commitment to helping grow our neighborhood founded dedicated partnerships with historical societies, churches, youth athletic leagues, social and egalitarian causes. From day one, Round Guys became that welcoming place where people from all walks of life could go to recharge their batteries!
So, for our 10-year anniversary, we put together a whole year of fun collaborations with people who have meant the most to helping us get this far.
Halfway Crooks — mixed fermented pilsner collaboration with La Cabra Brewing
To kick things off, we welcome back brewer, Chris Young. Young ran our brewhouse during the middle 2010s. From Round Guys, Young landed his first head brewer role at Tin Lizard Brewery in Bryn Mawr before leaping over to the ever delicious and acclaimed, Berwin-based La Cabra Brewing Company.
Young sat down with our current brewing team — brewer Jake Schaffer, cold cellar manager Alex Kron, and head brewery Scott Rudich — to formulate a fantastic brew named Halfway Crooks (currently available at both Round Guys and La Cabra). Incorporating a theme of exploration, each brewer attempted to push their own personal boundaries when creating this beer.
For Young, pilsners remained a style that he possessed limited production time with. Schaffer brought to the table the suggestion of a mixed fermentation, using brettanomyces claussenii (brett c) alongside our house lager, a German Lager Yeast called S23. Rudich insisted that the beer contain a hoppy element.
From a yeast standpoint, such a thin malt bill creates many challenges. Hoppier beers tend to absorb, or hide, many undesirable flavor characteristics, thereby covering up any fermentation flaws along the way. However, brettanomyces claussenii could create an unwanted sourness often present in berlinerweisses. Balance remained the goal for Young and Shaffer.
Through careful containment, Brett C actually enhanced and extenuated fruity hop characteristics found in this tasty pilsner. In addition to this special yeast blend, the collaboration team used a new hop called Lotus, which imparted a delicious citrus and berry flavor onto the beer.
Montco Pale Ale — single malt, single hops
We just released a special collaboration ale as a thank you to our friends at Montgomery County Community College’s Pottstown Campus (Montco) in honor of their 25th Anniversary. Over the years, Montco’s Pottstown campus provided us with many highly qualified culinary professionals.
This batch featured Pottstown based, JJ Ratigan, as a partner. Brewed using a simple single malt, single hop beer approach (also known as a SMaSH beer), expect a tasty coconut leaning hop character driven by the versatile and delicious Sabro hops. For every pint sold, one dollar returns to Montco for future scholars.
SummersAlt — Mexican Lager brewed with Salt and Lime.
In partnership with Radio 104.5, Philadelphia’s Alternative Rock and Montco Makers, we’re proud to release SummerAlt. SummersAlt represents our take on a Mexican Lager. Brainchild of Jake Shaffer, this brew contains a subtle amount of salt and an effervescent lime to make for a delicious summertime “alternative” classic. Learn more about SummerAlt here!
Join us on Thursday, May 12 as Radio 104.5 Philadelphia hang out for a live broadcast from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Not Yet Finalized - On the Horizon
This year, we also plan to roll out two special mug club collaboration brews with mug club members Linda Burg, Sean Comfort, and Thomas Brick. These folks won the big prizes in the Red Envelope giveaway we run at the end of each year. Expect one of the beers to be an alluring Barrel and Fruit Aged Chronomancer! The second collaboration remains to be determined at this time.
Finally, keep your eyes open for a collaboration with one of the original founders of Round Guys, Rich D’Liberto, and prior owner John Hartman. Without a doubt, we expect John’s collaboration brew to be one of the most unique beers you’ve had in some time!
Alex Liberto is the social media manager for Round Guys Brewing Company.
See also:
Round Guys: As Simple as Peanut Butter and Jelly
Round Guys: Alcohol Ink Artist to Design Gimme Seltzers
Jane’s Addiction Gives Shout Out To Round Guys Brewing Co.
Round Guys Brewing Co. Partners With Headway Art Collective
