Google’s first attempt at brewing has resulted in a beer that taps ingredients from all across the globe. They teamed up with Delaware craft brewery Dogfish Head to make “URKontinent,” a Belgian Dubbel style beer with flavors from five different continents.
If you aren’t familiar with Dogfish Head, they are a great brewery that makes kickass beer. They started small, but have grown to be one of the top craft breweries around. Their motto is “off-centered ales for off-centered people,” and they don’t disappoint. Their beers, especially their line of IPAs, are some of the best around.
For URKontinent, various Google employees joined the project basically to coordinate and organize the information gathering. Those ideas were then fed to the brewers at Dogfish Head.
Google grabbed beer ideas from their offices all across the globe, and they also received input from the rest of the online community. The project coordinators used tools like Google moderator to get suggestions and feedback from Googlers across the world.
WebProNews has received this statement from a Google spokesperson –
We encourage our employees to pursue their interests—whether they are training for a marathon, inviting their favorite author to speak, or creating the perfect cafe latte. Similarly, the project with Dogfish Head brewery was a Googler-driven project organized by a group of craftbrewery aficionados across the company. While our Googlers had fun advising on the creation of a beer recipe, we aren’t receiving any proceeds from the sale of the beer and we have no plans to enter the beer business.
According to the mini-documentary, some of the Google guys even helped brew the beer.
Here’s what you can expect from the beer:
It begins with Pilsner, Munich and Chocolate Malts and Belgian Dark Candi syrup. Then we add unique ingredients from around the world. Wattleseed from Australia imparts a chocolate, coffee, and hazelnut taste to the beer. Toasted Amaranth from South America gives it an earthy, grainy flavor and a little additional roast flavor. Green Rooibos from Africa contributes a floral aroma and slight astringency. Myrica Gale from Europe supplements the bitterness from minimal hopping. Hive Plex Honey from California adds a subtle sweetness while maintaining the dry finish
This isn’t the first time Dogfish Head has tried the worldly beer concept. One of their older brews is called Pangaea and includes ingredients from all 7 continents – water from Antarctica, Muscavado sugar from Africa and Crystallized ginger from Australia.
Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione says they are very proud of the beer. “This beer is a valentine to boot-strapping creative entrepreneurs in all kinds of industries all over the world,” he says.
The beer went on tap at the Dogfish brewpub in Rehoboth Beach on Tuesday. They say they have plans to bottle it up and distribute the brew in the coming months.