The research for a new adjunct, how it will pair with a style, and then the cost and time it takes to create something worthy of being released … and then bought and appreciated by consumers can be a challenge.
Usually, something that starts even at a homebrew size and is moved up to a pilot batch takes a while. Yet, WeldWerks’ Innovation and Wood Cellar Lead Skip Schwartz does feel that the Greeley, Colorado brewery hasn’t found the “ceiling” for a batch size based on the cost of an adjunct.
“We know that good quality ingredients cost money and we are always willing to foot the bill for quality,” Schwartz said.
However, that said, the brewery has done some smaller taproom-only beers that were still canned for release with lesser-known adjuncts.
“Not because of cost, but because of customer awareness of the adjunct,” Schwartz said.
The first example he brought up to Brewer that came to mind was the brewery created an Ube Cheesecake Sour in mid-March for taproom sales and to-go.
Ube is a Philippine-based purple yam that is used in a lot of locally-made desserts. Schwartz explained that making it a part of the brewery’s “Cheesecake” lineup was interesting.
“[It] turns the beer a dark purple. It was a really fun and awesome tasting beer, but it would have been hard for us to sell a big batch of that beer,” Schwartz said.
Another treat that Schwartz believes that WeldWerks is the only brewery to use this process is creating a Hot Sauce Barrel-Aged Taco Gose.
It’s a beer made with fire-roasted tomatoes, taco seasoning then aged in BLiS (Because Life is Short), which is a gourmet food company that specializes in Bourbon Barrel-aged products including hot sauce and maple syrup.
“The reason this beer works so well is because it is reminiscent of a spicy Michelada,” he said. “I think it also plays well into our community because Greeley has notoriously good tacos and taco trucks.”
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