New Terrapin brew a malty, unique ale

By: HOLLY ELLINGTON

Posted: 3/29/07

Athenians can pregame for the Final Four at Aromas Saturday afternoon and be the first to try a new beer.

Terrapin Beer is celebrating the debut of its newest beer with a special firkin keg tapping at Aromas Saturday.

INDIA BROWN ALE DEBUT PARTY

When: TBA Saturday
Where: Aroma's
Cost: TBA

India Brown Ale will be for sale to the public for the first time at this celebration.

"It's a very unique style of beer," said Dustin Watts, vice president of Terrapin, "which is right up the alley of Terrapin."

He said the new beer is like an India pale ale meets a brown ale - basically a brown ale with a lot of hops in it.

"It'll have a malty backbone," Watts said.

This new beer release is special because the beer will be poured from a firkin keg.

"This is going to be really really cool," Watts said. "This is a traditional way that beer was drunk back in the day."

A firkin is an older English-style cask keg that lies on its side with room for the tap at the end. It allows the beer to self-carbonate instead of carbonation being added during production, Watts said.

The beer in the sealed firkin undergoes a special conditioning process where the yeast produces carbonation and wonderful flavor components and then settles to the bottom of the cask, according to www.classiccitybrew.com.

"This way, the beer is more alive," Watts said.

He said because the beer will be stored in a firkin keg, it might taste a little different from the India Brown Ale served at Brew Fest stored in regular kegs.

"Firkins are always a little bit different and unique," said Aromas Manager Christy Hussain. "I haven't tried (the new beer) yet, so I'm very excited."

The party at Aromas is happening to celebrate the debut of India Brown Ale at Sunday's 12th Annual Classic City Brew Fest, sponsored by Brewtopia Events, in Athens.

Tickets to attend Brew Fest are already sold out for this year, said Owen Ogletree, Brew Fest organizer, but he did say there's a possibility of still needing volunteers to help.

Volunteers must be at least 21 years old and won't be allowed to drink during the festival.

Ogletree said anyone interested in the gourmet beer area is encouraged to contact him to join the Brewtopia listserv at www.classiccitybrew.com.

Terrapin also will have a sign up for the fourth Terrapin Monster Pub Crawl, which is Thursday, April 12 and cost $30 for five beer, food and a limited edition T-shirt.