Local brewers may tap into new options

Local brewers say the state's lifting of the alcohol-by-volume cap will open new opportunities for the burgeoning craft-brewing industry.

Moeller Brew Barn brewmaster Nick Moeller and Tailspin Brewing Co. brewmaster Jack Waite said while the change will help the state brewing scene, they have no immediate plans to start crafting stronger beers.

They are not ruling out the possibility of brews with higher alcohol contents down the line, though.

"We are looking at doing a double-IPA and that would be in the 9 percent range. Even at that 9 percent range you've got a really rich beer," Moeller said.

Waite said Tailspin brewers might consider a beer at 8 percent in the future.

"It's good that the state removed that cap because there are breweries out there, like Triple Digit Brewing Co. that focus on those high-gravity beers, those high-alcohol beers. ... It's a step in the right direction for the state legislation to allow the brewing community to be creative," Moeller said.

A beer could come close to hitting 12 percent alcohol if brewers produce a beer aged in used bourbon barrels, he said.

Gov. John Kasich signed House Bill 37 in May that lifted the 12 percent alcohol by volume limit on beers brewed and sold in the state.

Breweries can now manufacture the stronger beers but must wait until Aug. 31 for the bill to take effect. The limit had been 6 percent until it was raised to 12 percent in 2002.

The Ohio Craft Brewers Association pushed for lifting the cap this year, Moeller said.

Moeller said not many local people flock to beers with high alcohol content. He has found that more people prefer to drink beers in the 5 percent ABV range.

"There's less of a market for those big 12 percent beers," Moeller said.

Waite echoed that observation saying most people are not focused on drinking heavy beers.

Brewing time also comes into play when considering brewing beers with higher ABV, Moeller said.

"To keep the gravity of the wort high to get a high alcohol beer, you basically get less beer out with less of a yield. ... It would take a couple hours longer in the brew process or you'd get a lower yield. It's definitely a more expensive beer because you're using all those malted grains for the wort to be high sugars to get to your high-alcohol beers," he said.

An average beer brews for about eight hours, ferments for about two weeks, is cooled, has carbonation added and is transferred to kegs. The entire process takes between two weeks and upward of about four weeks for lagers, Moeller said.

Moeller Brew Barn's Steineman Station Saison marks the strongest of their beers with 6.9 percent alcohol content, and it is not one of the the darker beers on tap.

Tailspin's highest alcohol mark is 6.7 percent, Waite said.

Moeller said beer drinkers often mistakenly think darker beers contain more alcohol.

His company's two darkest beers, Black Bridge Smoked Porter and Baked Oatmeal Stout, have only 5.4 and 5.2 percent alcohol content respectively.

"There's light and dark (and)then there is light and heavy," Moeller said.

Darker color does not correlate to a higher alcohol content. The color is determined by the color of the malts used, he said.

Another aspect when selecting a beer is the International Bitterness Unit, which indicates the amount of hops used.

Moeller said Indian pale ales will rank higher on that scale because of their bitterness. The scale starts with one with beers reaching marks over 120.

"But really the palate can't taste anything higher than 100. It all just tastes like 100 just like burning your tongue," Moeller said.

Moeller has been open for about 14 months with business going strong. The taproom has about 12 varieties on tap, Moeller said.

Tailspin opened in June and and has seven varieties on tap at the state Route 118 location. Business has been great so far, Waite said.

"I just want to make good beer. I want the people of western Ohio to enjoy our beer," Moeller said.