Pigskin Brewing has two new smokey brews in the works, the first of which, a classic Rauchbier named Baptized with Fire, hit their taps this week.
Vic Gonzales, one of the brewers at Pigskin, told me they like to use football references for their beers. They had Sports Center on TV while they were brainstorming names for this particular beer and heard the new football coach of the New York Giants, Ben McAdoo use the phrase “baptized with fire” to describe his new role. Bang, there’s the name! The beer is brewed with classic German ingredients including a beech wood smoked malt, a German lager yeast, and Hallertauer noble hops. Gonzales describes this new creation as “not overly smoked”. I can attest to the fact that is very drinkable, refreshing, with obvious, but restrained smoky character.
While the classic Rauchbier should be a big draw for Pigskin, Gonzales indicated that it was made as a stepping stone to another beer that he’s even more excited about.
“The reason we brewed this Rauchbier was so we could make a smoked Helles,” said Gonzales. “The only smoke the Helles will get is from the yeast that is repitched from the Rauchbier.”
Look for the smoked Helles, which will be brewed without smoked malts, to hit the taps at Pigskin in mid-March.
If you want to try the Rauchbier that is currently on tap, there will be no better time than this Saturday, February 13, when Pigskin celebrates their first anniversary with a party from noon to midnight. You will be hard pressed to find a stronger range of house beers than what Pigskin has on tap. Where else will you find a house Rauchbier and a Roggenbier, a Cream Ale and a Brown Ale, a Barleywine and a Belgian Quad, a Gose and a Hefeweizen, plus the requisite IPA and Porter?
Pigskin is located in Gahanna at 81 Mill Street.
