Jack's Abby Releases Two Seasonals, Adds New Tanks

In addition to bringing a bronze medal from the Great American Craft Beer Festival this past weekend for their (now award winning) Smoke & Dagger Smoked Lager, Jack's Abby announced the release of two new seasonal beers today. Additionally, they are adding new tanks to their brewery in an effort to increase capacity and meet the growing demand for their hand crafted lagers.

We actually learned about the new tanks and one of the seasonal beers while visiting the Framingham, MA brewery in August, but here is the official release:

October 17, 2012 - Framingham, MA - Jack's Abby Brewing, an American craft brewer specializing in lagers, was awarded a bronze medal at the Great American Beer Festival® for its Smoke & Dagger lager. Jack’s Abby also announced two seasonal brews for autumn as well as expanded brewing capacity to meet demand.

Award for Smoke & Dagger

This past Saturday, October 13, Jack's Abby's Smoke & Dagger won the bronze medal in the smoked beer category at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, CO.

"We had an amazing time at the Great American Beer Festival," said Hendler." We're very excited for this recognition in only our first year of operation."

Since 1982, The Great American Beer Festival is held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver and is put on by The Brewers Association, a not-for-profit educational and trade organization that is devoted to making quality brewing and beer information. The Great American Beer Festival is the largest competition for commercial beers in the world.

Seasonal Lagers Announced

For Autumn, Jack's Abby is introducing two new seasonal lagers: Pumpkin Crop Lager and Kiwi Rising.

"The 2012 harvest on our family farm was fruitful. The Pumpkin Crop Lager uses 100 fresh pumpkins and 40 organic squash," said Hendler. "We prepared, cooked, and pureed all the gourds. A blend of autumn spices adds to the intense pumpkin flavors. We're also using locally grown Triticale." Pumpkin Crop Lager is 5.5% ABV.

Hendler described Kiwi Rising as “an intensely hoppy strong lager that we like to refer to as a Double India Pale Lager. All New Zealand hops (Kiwi hops) were used in progressively larger hop additions throughout the brewing process. Over four pounds of hops per BBL were used to create this specialty beer between four kettle hop additions, the use of our hop back, and three dry hop additions.” Kiwi Rising is 8.5% ABV.

New Tanks

To meet growing demand for its craft lagers, Jack’s Abby Brewing is expanding its production capacity. Jack's Abby will add two 80 BBL tanks and one 40 BBL tank to bring its total capacity to over 5000 BBLs.

About Jack’s Abby Brewing

Founded in January 2011 by three brothers who grew up in a family business, Jack’s Abby Brewing is a craft brewery specializing truly distinctive lagers featuring locally grown hops, traditional German brewing standards, and American innovation.

The name, Jack’s Abby Brewing, pays homage to co-founder Jack Hendler’s wife, Abby, while evoking the tradition of monastic groups in Europe who create handcrafted beers in their abbeys. The brothers are inspired by the tradition of craft brewing using quality local ingredients, mindful labor and great recipes to create delicious, authentic beer.

Jack's Abby is a proud member of the Massachusetts Brewers Guild and the Brewers Association.

For more information, visit Jack's Abby's website at www.jacksabbybrewing.com or their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/jacksabbybrewing.