Eighteen years!  What a ride!  We started life as a tiny self-distributed production brewery with a focus on tasty English beers.  In the beginning we were producing under 2,000 kegs in total output (1,000 barrels).  We opened a pub in ‘98, moved to a bigger facility in ’01, acquired additional spaces between ’04 and ’09, built an addition in ’12 all the while obtaining better and more efficient equipment and hiring more and more staff!  We’ve won some pretty serious awards, including but not limited to a Great American Beer Festival Gold Medal (in the Specialty Honey Beer Category, GABF Category: 11).  If Weyerbacher was a person, we’d be eligible to join the military, buy smokes…  but we still can’t drink or rent a car.

“Eighteen.”  Yes, we are very creative with the names of our beers.  Well, we were very creative.  Our 10th anniversary (our  first anniversary beer) was called Decadance.  How badass did we think we were?  Gold stars all around!  Then, the next year, the wheels on the creativity bus fell off and we went straight to pun-free numbers.

At 11.1% ABV, Eighteen is a big Weizenbock; a “Weizendoppelbock” to be perfectly clear! The malt bill is entirely German:  Wheat, Munich, Pils, Carawheat and Chocolate wheat.  Eighteen’s nose is reminiscent of a big dark Belgian-style ale with a touch of smokiness. The color is a hazy deep brown.  Eighteen features a complex combination of dark fruit and bready malts  with chocolate flavors that are perfectly balanced with spicy phenols and banana esters.  This unfiltered and bottle-conditioned ale has a creamy, textured mouthfeel and a warming finish.  Eighteen is available in ⅙ barrel kegs and 12 oz bottles for a limited time only.  This beer will age very nicely, yielding more dark fruits as time passes!

The second Brewers’ Select Series will continue to feature new beers which will don the names of constellations – Aquila is number two!

Aquila is a light-bodied Belgian Farmhouse-style ale with heavy American aroma.  Pale, Toasted Wheat and Rye malts are combined with Bravo and Simcoe hops to yield this 7.1% Farmhouse ale!  As with all of our Brewers’ Select beers, Aquila will have extremely limited production. Draft will be available at select restaurants and bars. Aquila will debut at Philly Beer Week starting Friday, May 31st. 12 oz bottles and growlers will be available the same day exclusively at the Visitors Center!

Manneken-Penn is the official collaboration of Philly Beer Week 2013 and will debut at Opening Tap on 5/31/13.

Manneken-Penn is a “Belgo-American Dubbel” conceived by Weyerbacher head brewer Chris Wilson and Brasserie de la Senne owner and brewer Yvan de Baets.  This beer was brewed in Belgium with both brewers present as a special export exclusively for Philly Beer Week 2013!

Manneken-Penn is made with oats, molasses and a combination of Calypso hops and European Aurora and Stvrian Goldings hops and weighs-in at 7.5% ABV.  The beer will be imported through Shelton Brothers in 11.2 oz bottles and draft.  This is an extremely limited beer which will only be available at select bars throughout Philly Beer Week 2013.

The label is a take on the [in]famous William Penn Statue; when viewed from the Ben Franklin Parkway, it looks like Billy Penn is urinating off the top of the building!  Combined with this is the famous statue of Manneken Pis, we get the playful artwork of the Manneke-Penn label!

To read about the trip to Belgium, the way this beer came to be and see lots of pictures, read this article.  To see the official press release for the beer and its label, click here.

Cheers!

The second Brewers’ Select Series will continue to feature new beers which will don the names of constellations – Andromeda is the first!

Andromeda is an amber ale with a pronounced and complex malt profile (notes of coffee, bread and roasted grains )at 4.7% ABV with 27 IBU. As with all of our Brewers’ Select beers, Andromeda will have extremely limited production. Draft will be available at select restaurants and bars.  12oz bottles will be made available starting Friday, May 3rd, 2013 exclusively at the Visitors Center!

White Sun Wit (4.6% ABV) is a crisp and hazy Belgian-Style Wit.  White Sun Wit is Weyerbacher’s thirst-quenching spring and early summer ale.  The nose has a light spiciness from the coriander, orange peel, grains of paradise, and star anise.  The palate reveals a mild, refreshing and effervescent wheat beer that finishes with just a hint of tartness.  Available from April through July.  Enjoy!

Note: White Sun Wit was formerly known as Blanche.  The recipe is absolutely identical, this was simply a name change.  You can read about Blanche and all of its comments in the Retired Beers Directory.

Riserva 2012 is an American Wild Ale fermented on red raspberries.  Riserva is fermented with a blend of Saccharomyces yeast, Brettanomyces yeast, and lactic acid bacteria that produce funky, sour, and fruity flavors and aromas.  The beer is aged for more than a year in oak barrels with Raspberries, giving the beer a pungent raspberry aroma, a lovely red color and a balancing wood character.  This brew is a beautiful beer both to your eyes and to your taste buds.  The microflora responsible for giving Riserva its character reside in the wood barrels and change somewhat over time depending upon factors such as the age of the barrel and the ambient temperature at which the barrels are stored.  New barrels are rotated into the mix as old barrels are rotated out and as such, Riserva varies somewhat in color and tartness from year to year.  Riserva is much higher in alcohol than its Belgian lambic framboise cousins and is a true treat to experience.

A very limited quantity of Riserva is distributed to select states.  Check it out at the release event on March 23rd, 2013 starting at 10:00am running through 3:30pm.