Bloody Beer Is Coursing Through Our State

Our Bloody Mary-inspired beer will once again hit store shelves throughout Michigan over the next couple weeks.. If you’ve got an adventurous streak when it comes to beer and like Bloody Mary cocktails, you’ll love this brew.

Decanted into a glass, Bloody Beer shows off an appealing ruby red glow. We use tons of ripe, Roma tomatoes. Upon taking your first sip, you’ll taste the dill, horseradish, peppercorns, and celery seed. Initial, bold tomato flavors are followed by a lingering finish that allows each ingredient a chance to resonate on the palate. Decant carefully, and let this 2009 GABF silver medal winner warm slightly in order to appreciate the full magnitude of flavors. Some garnish this beer with a splash of Tobasco sauce.

The 2012 batch weighs in at an impressive 7.5% ABV. The initial feedback we’ve heard from those who’ve tried this year’s batch is overwhelmingly positive. We’re told that this is the best 12oz bottle version yet, and the closest recreation of our famous Imperial batch.

Like all of the Imperial Series brews, Bloody Beer came with a numbered hang tag/collector card. For this brew, Joe provided a particularly articulate explanation for the creation of this unique beer:

One of the coolest things about beer is its adaptability. I am enamored with the result of this effort. I have always enjoyed a little American lager in my Sunday afternoon Bloody Mary. I have heard of great results from home brewed tomato ales, and I am familiar with using pepper in beer, so making a Bloody Mary out of beer sounded fun and delicious. I chose the California lager yeast because it produces great results in our Village Reserve, which just so happens to be a beer perfect for putting into a Bloody Mary. Although I have never used fresh dill or horseradish in beer, I thought it was a simple enough application to get the results I wanted by throwing them in and letting the beer absorb them much like making a tea or spicing solution. I chose to go with Roma tomatoes because of their cooking and flavor quality. We used 300 lbs. of the giant red berry in this beer (nearly 2 lbs. per gallon). Tomatoes are rich in calcium, potassium, vitamin A and C. Tomatoes are also a good source of lypocene which is an anti oxidant and powerful inhibitor of cancers and heart disease and is said to be good for your eyes. It’s no wonder the Bloody Mary is an infamous hangover cure with all the benefits it possesses from the spices it contains. Pepper, dill, celery seed and horseradish have rich ancient histories for health benefits for pain relief, indigestion, colic, fever, stomach ache and inhibitors of food pathogens. The Bloody Mary is said to have been invented by Fernand Petiot in New York in the 1920’s. He mixed equal portions of vodka and tomato juice together and with the evolution of a little Worcestershire, cayenne pepper and lemon and American classic was born. The name is disputed to have come from the actual Queen “Bloody” Mary herself. While in power during the mid 1500s, she wanted to convert England back to Roman Catholicism by force, and executed hundreds of Protestant leaders. This beer will go great with most anything, especially a big piece of garlic toast, eggs, with hot sauce and locally smoked bacon. I encourage you to enjoy it with good company at a BBQ, baptism, brunch, wedding, funeral, political gathering, birthday party, retirement party, polka festival, ballet, or at home in your recliner next to the fire place with the Wall Street Journal.

– SBC Operations Manager, Matt Drake