Last week Sly Fox Brewing Company debuted Chest Bockwell, a German-style lager brewed with real chestnuts, at Barcade in Philadelphia’s popular Fishtown neighborhood. Chest Bockwell, affectionately named after John C. Reilly’s fictional crime-fighting character in the movie Boogie Nights, is a traditional Dunkel Bock with chestnut flour added to the mash, drawing on rich Vienna, Munich, caramel and roasted malts from Bavaria for a toasted flavor profile.
Barcade’s management staff visited Sly Fox in Pottstown in February to brew this special collaboration beer weighing in at 7.4% ABV. Originally, they wanted to use whole chestnuts in the mash—until Sly Fox head brewer Brian O’Reilly warned of “evil forces” being locked inside the chestnuts. The two sides compromised and used chestnut flour, perfectly balancing the sweet and savory nuisances of the delicate fruit.
“Barcade has been a champion of craft beer for more than a decade, way before craft beer was cool, and brewing a beer for them is an honor,” says O’Reilly. “When we started discussing the brew with the group, the idea of a Chestnut Bock stuck out to me. It was a challenge bringing an unusual ingredient like chestnuts into such a traditional style, and I am proud to say we pulled it off. The chestnut flour really added an interesting depth to this malt-forward beer in a balanced and delicious way.”
“We’re very happy to announce this collaborative beer, Chest Bockwell,” says Barcade president & CEO Paul Kermizian. “We have been great fans of Sly Fox for years, and have been talking about working on an exclusive with them for some time. We really enjoy traditional German-style lagers, but also beers with unusual ingredients. Here, we balanced those conflicting interests and developed a truly flavorful beer.”
Sly Fox is the latest craft brewery to collaborate with Barcade for an extremely limited one-off series, a project dating back to 2010.
Find Barcade at 1114 Frankford Ave. in Philadelphia; phone: (215) 634-4400.
- Photo: BigStock
