The Story of Beer Church Pale Ale
On two separate occassion Beer Church has release Beer Church Pale Ale. The first batch was brewed at Big Al Brewing and the second was brewed at Schooner Exact Brewing. These were not small batches of beer. The first batch, released in November 2010, was 15 barrels (30 kegs). The second batch, released in April 2011, was 10 barrels (20 kegs).
The beer was distributed around the Seattle area. Proceeds from the beer benefited cancer research and awareness (The Leukemia & Lymphona Society and Pints for Prostates). At this time we do not have any solid plans to do a third batch, though it seems likely that we'll do that at some point.
Below, you can read more about the Beer Church Pale Ale mission.
Beer Church Pale Ale
UPDATE - May 9, 2011. Beer Church Pale Ale v2.0 is all but gone. This Thursday (May 12) at the Beveridge Place Pub, both versions of the beer will be poured side-by-side. BCPA v1.0 by Big Al Brewing and BCPA v2.0 by Schooner Exact Brewing. Come join us as we compare the two version. Fun starts at 7:00.
UPDATE - April 7, 2011. We now have the official list of where you can find Beer Church Pale Ale around the Seattle area. Click here for details.
UPDATE - April 2, 2011. Last night we released Beer Church Pale Ale v2.0. The West 5 lounge in West Seattle hosted a release party where a large crowd went bonkers for the beer. It is seriously delicious. The beer goes out for delivery next week. At that time, we'll have more information about where you can find the beer.
The West Seattle Blog showed up at the event. You can read their report here.
UPDATE - March 25, 2011. Beer Church Pale Ale v2.0 will be released on Friday, April 1st. Please join us as we introduce our new beer to the world. Click here for details.
The first batch of Beer Church Pale Ale sold very well and was very well-received. In all, the beer generated $1,140 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. We're gonna blow that number out of the water this time.
We were so pleased with the way things went that we brewed another batch. Saturday, March 19th we brewed the second-ever batch of Beer Church Pale Ale. This time around we brewed the beer with Schooner Exact Brewing. 
This time around, Beer Church Pale Ale will benefit Pints for Prostates - a grassroots campaign to increase awareness among men about the need for regular health screenings and PSA testing.
Our sponsors and contributors:
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UPDATE - March 15, 2011
The first batch of Beer Church Pale Ale sold very well and was very well-received. In all, the beer generated $1,140 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. We're gonna blow that number out of the water this time.
We were so pleased with the way things went that we are making another batch. Saturday, March 19th we will brew the second-ever batch of Beer Church Pale Ale. This time around we will brew the beer with Schooner Exact Brewing. We will mix up the hop profile and make a few other minor tweaks. We hope to release the beer during the first week of April and will plan a big release party. Check back for details.
This time around, Beer Church Pale Ale will benefit Pints for Prostates - a grassroots campaign to increase awareness among men about the need for regular health screenings and PSA testing.
Our sponsors and contributors:
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Press Release for Beer Church Pale Ale v2.0
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, March 18, 2011Beer Church and Local Brewery Teaming Up for Prostate Cancer Awareness
On Saturday, March 19th at Schooner Exact Brewing in Seattle, representatives from Beer Church and Schooner Exact Brewing will brew a batch of Beer Church Pale Ale, a beer benefiting Pints for Prostates. Schooner Exact Brewing will distribute 20 kegs of its Beer Church Pale Ale throughout the greater Seattle area. Proceeds from the sale of the beer will benefit Pints for Prostates and its grassroots mission to increase awareness among men about the need for regular health screenings and PSA testing.
Beer Church and Schooner Exact Brewing are hosting a party to commemorate the release of Beer Church Pale Ale at West 5 Lounge in Seattle on Friday, April 1st at 6:00 p.m. For each pint of Beer Church Pale Ale sold, West 5 will donate one dollar to Pints for Prostates.
Because of generous donations from members of the brewing industry, the very act of making this beer helps support Pints for Prostates. Schooner Exact Brewing is donating the manpower, the equipment and the know-how. Larry’s Brewing Supply of Kent, WA donated the majority of the grain. Yakima Chief, Inc of Sunnyside, WA donated the majority of the hops. Snipes Mountain Brewing of Sunnyside, WA donated additional hops. A monetary donation equaling the cost of those ingredients will be made to Pints for Prostates.
Beer Church Pale Ale is a Northwest-style Pale Ale. It is medium bodied and weighs in at approximately 5.2 percent alcohol by volume (ABV). The beer features a distinctive and notable hop characteristic and is brewed using ample quantities of Washington-grown hops. Schooner Exact’s Beer Church Pale Ale will be available on April 1st. Interested bar owners should contact Schooner Exact Brewing at (206) 432-9734.
“Because of the generous support of our sponsors, and Schooner Exact’s willingness to get involved in this project, we are able to insure that this beer benefits the cause before it ever leaves the brewery,” says Kendall Jones, Director of Beer Church. “To further support the cause, we encourage other bars selling Beer Church Pale Ale to follow West 5’s lead and donate a portion of sales to Pints for Prostates.”
Beer Church and Schooner Exact Brewing recognize the importance of what Pints for Prostates is doing. “We want to help Pints for Prostates speak to men using the language of beer. As with any type of cancer, early diagnosis is critical to survival. Unfortunately, testing for prostate cancer is a subject men generally do not want to talk about. Like Pints for Prostates, we want beer to help get the conversation started.”
About Beer Church: Beer Church is a Seattle-based group of beer-loving individuals that organizes fundraisers and provides easy, fun ways for people to contribute to the community. Founded in 1998, Beer Church has organized over 20 events to benefit a wide variety of charitable causes. For more information about Beer Church, contact Kendall Jones at (206) 218-7387 or email beerchurch@gmail.com. Find Beer Church on the web at www.beerchurch.com.
About Pints for Prostates: Pints for Prostates is a 501(c)3 a campaign that reaches men through the universal language of beer to encourage them to take charge of their health. The group was founded by prostate cancer survivor and beer writer Rick Lyke in 2008. The grassroots effort raises awareness among men of the importance of regular health screenings and PSA testing by making appearances at beer festivals, social networking and pro bono advertising. According to the National Cancer Institute, approximately 218,000 new prostate cancer cases were diagnosed in the U.S. in 2010. More information is available at www.pintsforprostates.org. Pints for Prostates also has a presence on Facebook and Twitter (@pints4prostates).
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Introducing Beer Church Pale Ale
(November 12, 2010)
That's right, we made a beer. Working with Big Al Brewing, and using ingredients donated by Briess Malt and Ingredients Company, we've made Beer Church Pale Ale - a charity beer to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This beer is a dark-colored Pale Ale, with a strong malt backbone and a big hop presence. We intentionally kept the ABV low (5.3% ABV) but did not skimp on the hop content. Delicious, refreshing, satisfying and sessionable.
- Read the complete story of Beer Church Pale Ale on the Washington Beer Blog.
- Interested in putting it on tap?
The following story was originally posted on the Washington Beer Blog on November 10th.
Introducing Beer Church Pale Ale
In addition to running the Washington Beer Blog, my wife and I also run Beer Church—a not-for-profit organization that creates fun and affordable ways for regular people to support charitable causes. Over the past 13 years Beer Church has hosted all sorts of parties, bringing people together in a spirit of community and giving.
To date, our Beer Church events have raised nearly $100,000 for a variety of local and national causes. While our events always include beer, it has been the people who do the actual giving. This time the beer is doing the work.
It is with great pride and pleasure that I announce the release of Beer Church Pale Ale. Working with Alejandro Brown at Big Al Brewing, we developed a recipe that matches our core Beer Church philosophy. We did not set out to make some life-changing fermented panacea. We simply wanted to make a really good beer. With the help of Big Al Brewing, David Richter at Briess Malt and Ingredients Company and Chris Miller at Snipes Mountain Brewing, we figured out a way for this beer to make money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Why? Because we’re Beer Church. It’s what we do.
The Official Release
The release of Beer Church Pale Ale is scheduled for Tuesday, November 23rd at the Beveridge Place Pub. We invite you to join us. We will be there at 6:00 p.m. to make it official, but the beer goes on tap when the pub opens that day. While this beer was conceived with charity in mind and its very existence supports the cause, the Beveridge Place Pub has offered to donate a dollar per pint as well.
Following the official release, Beer Church Pale Ale will be available at better beer bars around the Seattle area. Quantities are limited and it's going to go fast, so tell your local pub or alehouse to get on it quick and order up some of Big Al’s Beer Church Pale Ale. You can contact Big Al Brewing or you can contact me if you're interested.
Beer Church parishioners attending the 12th Annual Beer Church Turkey Bowl on Saturday, November 20th will get a sneak preview of the beer. We’ll be pouring it at West Seattle Bowl that night. Although the event is sold out, come on out and support the cause. All are welcome at Beer Church. Please bring a food donation. Turkey Bowl is a food drive and fundraiser for the West Seattle Food Bank.
About the Beer
Our goal was to create a beer that was sessionable but also hoppy enough to satisfy IPA lovers. Beer Church Pale Ale weighs in at 5.3 ABV. While the IBUs are not going to knock your socks off (38-40 is all), the hop aroma and flavor is not at all lacking. I actually considered not mentioning IBUs here, knowing that many people equate IBUs with hoppiness. (IBUs refers to bitterness and does not speak to the other characteristics that hops add to beer.)
Beer Church Pale Ale is floral, spicy, aromatic and deliciously overly-hopped. We used Nugget, Cascade and Palisade hops. And plenty of them. Without going into detail about the grain bill, to create the backbone we used a few different Briess specialty malts with Briess Pale Ale Malt as the base. Below: Kim adding hops to the boil."
The beer matches our philosophy. Beer Church believes that beer is inclusive and not exclusive. We open our hearts to all people who love beer and we do not turn anyone away; therefore, we set out to create a beer that was accessible to the masses. We also wanted Beer Church Pale Ale to be interesting enough to appeal to the more serious beer enthusiasts.
It’s Glorious. It Sings.
Last night we sampled the beer, which is currently undergoing its final conditioning. The beer was still a bit green (literally and figuratively), but… WooHoo! Beer Church Pale Ale turned out exactly as advertised. It’s glorious. It sings. Of course Al is the one who really deserves the credit. We have vision, he has skills.
Benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
Because of the efforts of Big Al Brewing and the support of Briess and Chris Miller (the hop wrangler), this beer is raising funds before it even starts to pour. Beer Church Pale Ale will continue to keep on giving as some of the bars pouring the beer have agreed to donate a portion of their sales to charity. It's not at all a requirement, but some bars tell us they plan to donate a portion of proceeds. In the coming weeks we will let you know where to find Beer Church Pale Ale.Below: The grain bill.
The charity of choice for this beer is the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). A couple years ago, Kim (a.k.a. Mrs. Beerblog) survived a cancer scare with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Currently, the twelve year-old daughter of one of our friends is bravely fighting a battle against a particularly aggressive form of leukemia. What's more, when I was sixteen years old one of my best friends died of Leukemia. Those are a few of the reasons we chose the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society as the beneficiary of the first Beer Church brew.
Brewing the Beer
Sometime ago, Kim said that she wanted to make beer. We have visited many breweries and talked with many brewers over the years, but she felt like her lack of experience compromised her complete understanding of the brewing process. (I was an avid home brewer in a previous life and have also been around more than one brewhouse on brew day.) Kim wanted to truly understand what all those words meant and what all of that equipment was for.
With that in mind, we decided to talk to some of our industry friends about brewing up a batch of beer on a pilot system. One night we were talking to Alejandro Brown of Big Al Brewing and he generously offered up his pilot system (Little Al). The other thing we talked to Alejandro about that night was the upcoming Beer Church Turkey Bowl—our annual bowling party fundraiser that attracts over 200 people each year.
While Kim was trying to figure out what we would do with the two 1/6 barrel kegs the pilot system would produce, Al and I were scratching our chins and thinking about how easy it would be to move a beer called Beer Church Pale Ale, especially if it tasted good. To begin with, we would surely go through a couple kegs at Turkey Bowl. Knowing that name and logo (both trademarked) would attract all of the right kind of attention, and knowing that the beer would end up being delicious, we decided to leave Little Al behind and brew the beer on Big Al’s 15 barrel system.
A Team Effort
From the brewery, Big Al himself and Carl Holzboog were there to guide us. Kim really wanted to immerse herself in the process, even though I’d warned her that much of it was way less sexy than she imagined. Below: Dave Richter milling his grain and goin' in.
Actually dumping the bags of grain into the mill proved to be a bit much for Kim, but Dave Richter from Briess was there to handle that chore. Makes sense, really. Other than that, Kim handled the heavy lifting. She even shoveled out the mash tun. We offered to help, really we did, but she was so enthusiastic that we didn’t want to spoil her good time.
We had a great day of brewing, with lots of joking around and lots of learning. The sheer volume of hops we used made cleaning up a bit more challenging than it otherwise might have been, but that’s okay. It was worth it. We cannot thank Big Al Brewing, Briess Malt and Ingredients Company, and Chris Miller at Snipes Mountain Brewing (the hop wrangler) for helping us pull all of this together.
There will be more to tell in the coming weeks. In the meantime, come on out and join us for a pint at the Beveridge Place Pub on Tuesday, November 23rd. Come any time, but we’ll be there at 6:00.