Ft. Collins, Colo. — New Belgium Brewing has teamed up with Minneapolis-based Indeed Brewing Company for Beers with Vrienden to create Come Together, a honey wheat wine. Vrienden means friends in Flemish, perfectly depicting New Belgium’s love for collaboration with unique craft brewers around the country. Indeed’s team will come to Ft. Collins, Colo. for the official Come Together brew day on March 18, followed by a second brew date at Indeed’s brewery in April.
This collaboration offers a homecoming for two of New Belgium’s brewers. Travis Burge grew up in Minnesota and Matt Pollock worked for Indeed before joining New Belgium.
“I’m looking forward to this collaboration because I get to work hand-in-hand with my first brewing mentor and my current employer to create something that will hopefully showcase some ingredients that people aren’t normally familiar with when it comes to beer,” said Pollock, a New Belgium brewer.
Come Together will be a super-heady sipper packed with tons of wildflower honey. Strawberry scented Belma hops and New Belgium’s house Belgian yeast strain will all come together to create a warming, full-bodied beer.
“We use honey a fair amount at Indeed, so for an “Indeed flavored” brew at New Belgium, I felt honey was a pretty natural choice,” said Josh Bischoff, Head Brewer at Indeed. “Travis mentioned he was thinking about how he could work honey into the mix and doing a Wheat Wine at Indeed has been on our list for a while. I think the style and the honey pair well together, Wheat Wine’s have a big malty character, but it’s not bold and overpowering so it won’t cover up the character of the honey.’
At 9.0% ABV and 40 IBUs, Come Together has a unique malt bill of white, red and torrified wheat, along with spelt and oats, and of course wildflower honey.
“With this collaboration, I wanted to explore with honey and that’s exactly Indeed’s wheelhouse and where they wanted to push the limits. Then talking about using a subtle fruit, like strawberries, and New Belgium just so happened to have recently sampled a new hop variety that tastes like strawberries! A lot of fun coincidences and some great inspiration,” noted Burge, New Belgium’s Production Director.
After the initial brew day for Come Together Honey Wheat Wine in Ft. Collins on March 18, the New Belgium crew will travel to Minneapolis for release parties April 27-30, followed by a second brew date at Indeed Brewing on April 29 to create Strawberry Fields Sour. Additional details on the release celebrations and second collaboration beer will be announced as the dates get closer.
To learn more about New Belgium Brewing, check out NewBelgium.com. To learn more about Indeed Brewing, visit IndeedBrewing.com.
About New Belgium Brewing
New Belgium Brewing, makers of Fat Tire Amber Ale and a host of Belgian-inspired beers, is recognized as one of Outside Magazine’s Best Places to Work and one of the Wall Street Journal’s Best Small Businesses. The 100% employee-owned brewery is a Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Business as designated by the League of American Bicyclists, and one of World Blu’s most democratic U.S. businesses, and a Certified B Corp. In addition to Fat Tire, New Belgium brews thirteen year-round beers; Citradelic Tangerine IPA, Ranger IPA, Rampant Imperial IPA, Shift Pale Lager, Slow Ride Session IPA, Snapshot Wheat, Sunshine Wheat, 1554 Black Ale, Blue Paddle Pilsner, Abbey Belgian Ale and Trippel and a gluten-reduced line, Glutiny Pale Ale and Glutiny Golden Ale. Learn more at www.newbelgium.com.
About Indeed Brewing
Indeed Brewing Company was founded by Rachel Anderson, Nathan Berndt, and Tom Whisenand, and sold its first beer in August of 2012. Nestled alongside the train tracks in the heart of the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District, Indeed is a full-scale production brewery led by Head Brewer Josh Bischoff, with an artfully eclectic line-up of distinctive flagship beers, well-loved seasonal releases, and adventurous specialty brews. Its diverse offerings are anchored by its flagship Day Tripper Pale Ale, and rounded out by the “brewer’s choice” Derailed Series of experimental brews, and the Wooden Soul series of wild, sour, and barrel-aged beer. Well-known locally as an engaged and community-oriented brewery, Indeed has two lively taprooms, open five days a week and home to Indeed We Can, the company’s employee-driven charitable giving program, which donates 100% of taproom profits to an employee-sponsored local nonprofit every Wednesday of the year. There’s more to explore at www.indeedbrewing.com.