Mash tun lid at Live Oak Brewing Company. Still image taken from Lost Lens Cap Productions' documentary, The Craft of Craft Beer.
Live Oak Brewing Company's Founder, Chip McElroy, being interviewed for Lost Lens Cap Productions' documentary, The Craft of Craft Beer.
A can of Live Oak Pilz on the canning line. Still image taken from Lost Lens Cap Productions' documentary, The Craft of Craft Beer.
Mash tun lid at Live Oak Brewing Company. Still image taken from Lost Lens Cap Productions' documentary, The Craft of Craft Beer.
The Beers
Real Ale Brewing Company's 20th Anniversary Ale on tap at the party. Still image taken from Lost Lens Cap Productions' documentary, The Craft of Craft Beer.
Real Ale Brewing Co. owners, Brad Farbstein and Gabriel Gregerman, during an interview for Lost Lens Cap Productions' documentary, The Craft of Craft Beer.
Tapping a flash-cask at the Real Ale Brewing Co. 20th Anniversary party. Still image taken from Lost Lens Cap Productions' documentary, The Craft of Craft Beer.
Real Ale Brewing Company's 20th Anniversary Ale on tap at the party. Still image taken from Lost Lens Cap Productions' documentary, The Craft of Craft Beer.
Imperial Rye IPA
This beer celebrates Real Ale Brewing Company's 20th Anniversary and was inspired by one of the brewery's longest running brews, Full Moon Rye IPA. The Anniversary Ale is a much bigger beer, though, with a malt bill that is twenty percent rye, a starting gravity of twenty degrees Plato, and an ABV of 9.5%.
For this special occasion, Real Ale invited current and former employees to participate in the brew day, calling it a "Rye-union." It made for a crowded brewhouse, with brewers from breweries across the country adding liquid hops to the boil, and a big celebration in the tap room.
Pilz has been the flagship beer for Live Oak Brewing Co. since it began in 1997. Brewed exclusively with a classic Moravian heirloom malt and Saaz hops, this Pilsner is clean and crisp, with an aggressive hop character. Traditional decoction mashing really brings out the malt and gives it a beautiful golden color.
Bohemian Style Pilsener
After almost two decades brewing with old equipment in a former meat packing plant, Live Oak recently built a brand new, state of the art facility. The Craft of Craft Beer documents one of the early Pilz batches in the new brewery, but also features brewing footage from the original location on Austin's east side.
Foamy wort fills the coolship upstairs at Jester King Brewery. Still image taken from Lost Lens Cap Productions' documentary, The Craft of Craft Beer.
Exterior sign at Jester King Brewery. Still image taken from Lost Lens Cap Productions' documentary, The Craft of Craft Beer.
Customers purchasing the four different blends of Jester King's SPON. Still image taken from Lost Lens Cap Productions' documentary, The Craft of Craft Beer.
Foamy wort fills the coolship upstairs at Jester King Brewery. Still image taken from Lost Lens Cap Productions' documentary, The Craft of Craft Beer.
Spontaneously Fermented Farmhouse Ale
Most beers are fermented with a specific yeast strain, and brewers go to great pains to keep other organisms from contaminating their beers. With SPON, Jester King goes completely against the grain by leaving unfermented beer, or "wort", in an open shallow vessel called a "coolship" overnight. The brewers depend entirely on the wild yeasts and bacteria in the night air to inoculate the beer, which ferments in oak barrels for up to three years.
The Craft of Craft Beer illustrates the coolship process, which is based on Belgian Lambic beer making techniques, with beautiful footage of the steamy wort entering the vessel in Jester King's upstairs barrel room. We also chronicle the bottling and release of their very first spontaneously fermented beer.
Belgian Dubbel
Many traditional Belgian beers were originally brewed at monasteries dating back to Roman times. While some Belgian classics are still brewed by monks today, secular brewers have embraced monastic brewing, as well. One of the most popular styles is the dubbel, which is a big, malty, brown brew with a flavor profile that is largely dictated by yeast characteristics.
Dennis Middleton spent eighteen years living in Belgium, so he's learned a thing or two about their brewing techniques. At his small neighborhood pub in Wimberley, TX, you'll find some of the best examples of traditional Belgian beer in America, including Galena, his rendition of the dubbel. This film follows the brewers at Middleton Brewery as they brew, barrel age, and bottle this special beer.
Middleton Galena Belgian Dubbel sign. Still image taken from Lost Lens Cap Productions' documentary, The Craft of Craft Beer.
Profile of Galena Belgian Dubbel ale from Middleton Brewing. Still image taken from Lost Lens Cap Productions' documentary, The Craft of Craft Beer.
Middleton brewers Calvin Koaba and Nathan Woeber toast to the end of a successful brew day. Still image taken from Lost Lens Cap Productions' documentary, The Craft of Craft Beer.
Middleton Galena Belgian Dubbel sign. Still image taken from Lost Lens Cap Productions' documentary, The Craft of Craft Beer.