Night Wheeler

Session Black Lager

A dark black lager with bold roasted malt and faint citrus hop aromas. Robust flavors of burnt cocoa and roasted espresso barely give way to some mild orange and grapefruit hoppiness. The light body and crisp nature of this unique lager allows for a showcased bitterness that seems delayed at first, but builds to a powerful finish.

  • ABV: 4.0%
  • IBU: 60
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Origin Story

This concept beer comes to us from the clever brewing mind of our very own Head of Brewing Productions, Tony Hansen. Continuing with the most recent trend that has driven the creation of so many new beers at the pub, Night Wheeler is another perfect example of style fusion or beer hybridization at Short's. Described by Tony as a Session India Black Lager, he skillfully used specialty malts and hefty doses of hops to practically join three styles of beer into one. In order to be a Session Beer, Tony had to reduce the malt bill to lower the overall amount of fermentable sugars, so the ABV would be at or below 4%. However, in order to embody all of the rich robust characteristics of a hearty Black Lager, he also had to incorporate certain malts that would lend those flavor characteristics without increasing the overall alcohol content. By using a grain called Midnight Wheat, he was able to get the dark color and classic flavors expected of a Black Lager, but keep the alcohol content and body quite low. The final twist Tony applied to this new conceptual style was a significantly increased hop bill, resembling the quantity that one would use in an India Pale Ale, even though this was going to be added to a style that normally would have relatively low hop bitterness. Since the hops were going to be up against some very prominent malt flavors of dark roast coffee and chocolate, the decision was made that this beer would be brewed exclusively with the highly regarded Amarillo hops, hoping that there ability to impart big aromas and bitterness would easily be detected. The end result is a beer that shares some fun and interesting qualities of a rich flavored light bodied lager, with an unexpected hop twist in aroma and bitterness.

Hops

Amarillo

Nutritional Information

  • Carbs: 15.9

Name Origin

As for the name, "night wheeling" was a term Joe and Leah used to refer to the late night water skiing escapades the two frequently participated in many years ago. Tony hoped that this themed beer would help inspire them to "act like kids again" and partake in some mischievous late night wheeling, just like they did in the good old days. We'll see if it works...
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