A nod to the past, with an eye on the future.
“We decided to use Lórien in a new bottled American Lager project because we believe there’s some room for innovation in that style of beer and there are no better or more passionate and skilled innovators than the team at Indie Hops.For decades, the American Lager formula has been to use nameless, bland commodity malt with a chunk of rice or corn thrown in and a high alpha, flavorless bittering hop used to balance the sweet malt/adjunct combination. With the craft malting revolution has come gorgeous flavor that is easy to access; there’s no absolute need for rice or corn to balance out the harshness of Americas old barley varieties. We crave a sessionable beer that harkens back to the days of old but has subtle hints of actual flavor; this is why we chose Lórien and locally grown Baronesse Pilsner from LINC malt in Eastern Washington… they have beautiful flavors and aromas that never pack so much of an intense punch that it’s too much to continue drinking.”
“We love Lórien because it seamlessly combines some of the traditional European lager aromas into the more modern American hops aromas, specifically the American Sprite-like (lemon-lime) aroma into the traditional bouquet of herbs that European lager hops are so renowned for. We are smitten with European lager hops and when we want that flavor profile, we have historically been able to acquire them without too many issues but we see the writing on the wall, climate change is happening fast and Europe is stacking up some dry and harsh growing seasons back to back. We believe in the team at Indie in that they’ve created an ingredient that can thrive and not be so harsh on the land/farmer from which it comes… other than Lórien’s flavor profile, this is a big reason we chose to work with Lórien. Plus, we love its low Alpha Acid content. Most European hops we use are between 1.5% to 4.5%. It was a gutsy move to breed a low alpha hop in today’s IPA wars… it means that they truly are fans of beer. This gives us the ability to create a smooth bitterness while actually giving the beer some hop flavor and aroma; something high alpha hops can’t do in small, less bitter beers.”
"We believe in the team at Indie in that they’ve created an ingredient that can thrive and not be so harsh on the land/farmer from which it comes… other than Lórien’s flavor profile, this is a big reason we chose to work with Lórien."
JOHN MARTI , BREWMASTER @ LOWERCASE BREWING
With a September 2023 launch, consumers will be able to taste the new world flavors of Lórien in “Douglas”, a new brand that Marti and Chris Smith — his Lowercase co-founding partner — hope will compete with the likes of Rainier. There’s a super cool backstory here, as Marti and Smith work to revive a bit of history. “When Fish Brewing in Olympia was purchased and closed its doors we were offered their old bottling line (pieces of which are from the old Olympia Beer bottling line). Throughout Covid, we moved it piece by piece up to Tacoma and put it in the basement of 7 Seas Brewing, which is the original Heidelburg building that Rainier was first brewed in. We are rehabilitating the old bottling line and will contract brew the beer through 7 Seas until we are able to raise enough money for our own facility.”
We’re honored that these two talented brewers — fueled by a passion for beer and an honor for tradition, along with an awareness that climate change requires action — chose Lórien to bring classic refreshment to consumers. Old school meets New world — winning combo right there!