Allagash Brewing to Package Sixteen Counties in 12 Oz. Bottles

PORTLAND, Maine  – Sixteen Counties — a beer made with 100% Maine-grown and processed grains — will soon be available in 12 oz. bottles. This Belgian-style pale ale was previously available in 750 mL bottles, but now will only be available in 12 oz. On November 27th, it will begin shipping out to select markets from Maine to the Mid-Atlantic.

“We’re really excited about the switch to this new format,” said Rob Tod, founder and brewer at Allagash. “This beer was made in tribute to the robust local agriculture we have in Maine, and a 12 oz. bottle just made a bit more sense to us. We think this is a beer that you can enjoy every day, not just on special occasions.”

Sixteen Counties features notes of honey, tropical hops, citrus and a hint of cereal grain. Allagash chose to accentuate the Centennial hops already in the recipe by adding an additional round of dry-hopping for the switch to 12 oz. bottles. The beer’s light orange hue and malt profile are meant to showcase the quality agricultural capabilities of Maine. The local grain found in this beer include: Maine Malt House 2-row Malted Barley from Buck Farms, Blue Ox Malthouse 2-row Malted Barley, raw wheat from Maine Grains, and oats from Aurora Mills & Farm.

In additional news, Sixteen Counties has been named as a finalist in the Good Food Awards 2018.

Allagash is one of the 279 companies in the running for a Good Food Award in 2018. Each Finalist rose to the top in a blind tasting of 2,057 entries, and also passed a rigorous vetting to confirm they meet Good Food Awards standards.

According to Sarah Weiner, Director of the Good Food Awards, “the finalists represent not just the best of America’s food movement, but the qualities most beloved about America itself: a rich cultural diversity, vibrant agricultural landscape, and the creativity and integrity of its small business owners.”

The Winners will be announced on Friday, January 19, 2018.

Zooming out, Sixteen Counties is part of Allagash Brewing Company’s larger effort to buy one million pounds of local grain, yearly, by 2021. The reason to choose a specific number comes from two main lines of thinking, which Jason, the brewmaster at Allagash, nicely described. “We chose a hard number rather than a percentage [of total grain used] to give farmers a concrete number to shoot for while making sure that we increase our use of local grain no matter how much we grow.”

ABOUT ALLAGASH BREWING COMPANY

Founded in Portland, Maine, by Rob Tod, Allagash Brewing Company is dedicated to crafting the best Belgian-inspired beers in the world. Since 1995, Allagash has been a proud resident of Portland, and loves giving back to the community—and state—that has supported them along the way.

ABOUT THE GOOD FOOD AWARDS

The Good Food Awards celebrate the kind of food we all want to eat: tasty, authentic and responsible. Now in its eighth year, awards will be given to winners in 15 categories: beer, charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, cider, coffee, confections, elixirs, fish, honey, oils, pantry, pickles, preserves and spirits. The Good Food Awards Seal, found on winning products, assures consumers they have found something exceptionally delicious that also supports sustainability and social good.

ABOUT THE GOOD FOOD FOUNDATION

The Good Food Awards is organized by the Good Food Foundation 501 (c) 3, formerly known as Seedling Projects, in collaboration with a broad community of food crafters, grocers, chefs, food writers, activists and passionate food-lovers. The Good Food Foundation is also the organizing force behind the Good Food Guild, Good Food Mercantile and Good Food Merchants Collaborative.