We visited La Vigne Organics in southern California where our blood oranges are grown this past December. Although the harvest of blood oranges begins in mid to late January, the fruit was well underway in its development. The final stage of maturity is when the skin will take on a redish hue, hinting the ruby colored tart citrus inside. This reddening will occur in January and become more pronounced as the fruit is left on the trees longer.

It was quite fortuitous that we found La Vigne as our supplier for blood oranges as it quickly became apparent that their groves and facility is a really special place. It's located in Fallbrook California, right down the Avocado Highway (I-15) from Los Angeles, and about an hour north of San Diego in area with a heavy emphasis on agriculture. The countryside is beautiful and reminded us of some parts of Tuscany with numerous rolling hills and an extremely high number of sunny days in the year. Blood oranges are just one of over 15 crops produced by the estate which includes many less-mainstream fruits and products including kumquats, persimmons, kaffir limes, minneolas, meyer lemons, passion fruit and pomegranates. We had the opportunity to spend some quality time with Helene Beck, who is the founder and principal of La Vigne, as well as Mark who manages the grove and all fruit production. Their approach to farming these crops is really commendable in a world that seems, at times, out of touch with sustainable agriculture practices. All of their crops are grown organically and are Certified Biodynamic by Demeter Association in an effort to both have as little impact on the ecosystem as possible and also produce a product with the most vibrant flavors.

As I walked with Mark to toward the blood orange groves he explained that the biodynamic approach to farming is really important to their fruits. Certified Biodynamic farming, a much higher level of ecological commitment than just organic, is given to farms that become individually unique ecosystems and self-sufficient with respect to the substances used in their farming. For instance, he maintains their own farm animals to produce manure used in custom-mixed natural fertilizers. They do not use pesticides, herbicides or fungicides, but instead grow other plants and wildflowers that attract natural predators for any problem pests. Listening to Mark speak, it was clear he believed all of these crops to be interconnected and in harmony with the nutrients and fertility of the soil.

Our particular use of blood oranges in production of Happy Sol depends on the fruit having the most complex and vibrant flavors. Since we use juice in our fermentation, the fruit needs to be fully mature and so our oranges are not harvested until late February or even March. Most of the crops at La Vigne are harvested to order – meaning that the fruit is only picked from the trees when a customer puts in an order. Alongside the blood oranges is another grove of persimmons, which the trees had lost all of their leaves as part of the fall season, but still held on to an assortment of ripe fruit. Mark said these remaining fruit would be picked as new orders came in over the coming weeks. The same is true for the blood orange crop when it is ready in the coming months and luckily there is an ample supply to use in our ongoing production of Happy Sol. As part of the dozens of pilot batches for this beer we tried many different types of citrus but always came back to the blood orange as adding the right amount of tartness and a distinctive flavor that sets it apart from other hefeweizens. Visiting the groves provides great assurance that we are engaged in producing a high quality product, but also offered some inspiration for ingredients we might use in other upcoming recipes.

(Somerville, MA) – Adding to an already impressive line up of craft beer in the Chicago area, Slumbrew will kickoff its distribution in Chicagoland next week (January 24-27) with a series of promotional events and beer dinners. Slumbrew is the artisanal, ingredient-driven brand of unusual beers hailing from Somerville Brewing Company in Somerville, Massachusetts. The new brewery founded by Caitlin Jewell and Jeff Leiter just launched its first three beers in October of last year to an unanticipated level of demand and community support in its local market.

The three initial beers include Flagraiser IPA – a hophead's favorite ale showcasing the Galaxy variety of hops; Happy Sol – a dry, somewhat tart hefeweizen brewed with MA wildflower honey, coriander, orange peel, and fermented with over 1,000 blood oranges per batch; and Porter Square Porter – a dark Porter conditioned on a huge amount of cacao nibs from Somerville's Taza Chocolate Company.

“Each beer we make focuses on how we can express one or more ingredients in a unique way to create an unusual finished product that is both delicious and differentiated from other beers in the market”,says Jeff who heads up the recipe development and brewing operations. The beers are conceived and perfected in a 350 sq. ft. nano-sized brewery that Jeff built in a small structure on his property in Somerville. After a long process of working out recipe details and sourcing the right ingredients, the beer is then scaled up and Jeff brews on larger equipment to produce the necessary volume for distribution.

The current set of beers offer something that appeal to a wide range of beer drinkers whether people prefer lighter color wheat beers, dark and robust porters or a balanced approach to big hop flavor. The next beer due to be released in early February is a uniquely formulated imperial cream ale called ‘My Better Half'. This beer is a nod to the style's history of brewing with cereal grains and is split during fermentation so half is lagered and the other fermented as an ale. The two halves are then blended back together for packaging. There have been many cream ales brewed over the last hundred years, but rarely have they been brewed to an imperial strength of 7.2% ABV and with a focus on quality malts and adjuncts. Following after My Better Half in March, look for a higher gravity Belgian-style ale called Trekker Tripel brewed with some interesting sugars that take thef lavor down a different path.

“We're very excited to bring our portfolio of beers and approach to recipe development to the Chicago area. The beer drinkers in this area are incredibly discerning and we are in great company with some of the best publicans and brewers in the country all focused on making the craft beer movement matter”, says Caitlin who is the other owner and leads Somerville Brewing's marketing, events and promotion activities. Slumbrew is also part of an admired portfolio of other beers distributed in Illinois through Stoller Wholesale.

The Slumbrew beers are currently available in 22 oz. bombers in many bottle shops around Chicago and some select draft lines, but the official launch and widespread release will coincide with special beer dinner and tasting events during January 24 -27. The first event on 1/24 is the ‘Slumbrew Rock & Roll Beer Dinner' at Three Aces in Chicago from 7-9pm, followed by ‘Meet the Brewer' events at Timothy O Toole's in Gurnee on 1/25 (7-9pm) and Villain's Bar and Grill on 1/26 (6-8pm) in Chicago.

To learn more about the Slumbrew beers or find bottle shop locations, visit www.slumbrew.com. Contact Caitlin at caitlin at slumbrew dot com for questions related to upcoming events and promotions. For distribution, contact Joe Katze at Stoller Wholesale (joek at stollerwholesale dot com). The Slumbrew team hopes to see many Chicago craft beer enthusiasts at one of the upcoming events.

One of the most interesting historical events occurred on Prospect Hill above what is now Union Square in Somerville. The area was an important strategic location for many years leading up to and through the Revolutionary War. At different points, it was occupied by the colonists and the British as it offered a high vantage over the marshland that is now the most densely populated urban area in New England. On January 1, 1776 something rather special happened. As the story goes, and there is some debate over the exact unfolding of events by scholars, George Washington gave the order to hoist the Grand Union Flag on a pole at the top of the hill. The Grand Union Flag is considered the first American flag as it declared the colonists separate from the British flag – sort of. With the Union Jack in the corner, it was the first use of the 13 stripes that led to the modern day stars and stripes. George Washington ordered the raising of this flag in several locations around the colonies, but this location on Prospect Hill is considered by many to be the first. With Prospect Hill's commanding location over Charlestown and Cambridge, it served several purposes. To the British, with the Union Jack still in the corner, it appeared that the colonists may have been backing off from their radical ideas of separation. To the colonists it declared solidarity in defining their own identity and independence from strict British rule. There is much to the history and politics of this time and I recommend reading about it in a little historical narrative here if it interests you.

So back in my homebrew kitchen at the time, I arrived at what was one of my most successful recipes for a very hoppy IPA. This beer had such great demand among family and friends that it was a natural pairing for the captivating events on Prospect Hill some 220 years earlier – Flagraiser IPA was born. The label art has gone through a couple iterations, but then while working with our amazing illustrator, Caroline Webber, she arrived at the perfect synthesis of Somerville imagery, the Prospect Hill monument, and flag metaphor that became intertwined with how we had come to think about this IPA. It was a natural beer in our lineup to launch Slumbrew and become our, and I apologize for this, “flagship beer.”

Over time the steep incline of Prospect Hill was knocked down for fill in the surrounding area, but a monument was finally erected in the early part of the 20th century to commemorate the important role that this location played in our early history. There is now a small park located around the monument offering some great views of the area and every year on January 1 a re-enactment of the historical hoisting of The Grand Union flag is performed. Naturally, we were eager to be in attendance this year on what was the warmest New Year's Day in recent memory. It was a great opportunity to mingle with our neighbors and then head down the hill to The Independent – where Slumbrew officially launched – to grab a pint of fresh Flagraiser IPA.

(Somerville, MA) – It's exciting times for the fervent craft beer scene in the Northeast as the new Somerville Brewing Company proudly announces its launch of brewing operations. The new brewery is producing draft and 22 oz. bottles of its beer under the Slumbrew brand. Each beer is the result of extensive refinement and is designed to challenge preconceptions of standardized beer styles while making use of the highest quality ingredients. The first beers shipped during the week of October 24th and were very warmly received by an enthusiastic community of craft beer fans.

The brewing project is the culmination of over two years of preparation by founders Caitlin Jewell and Jeff Leiter. During the startup phase, Caitlin and Jeff did extensive travel and research on some of the most successful and innovative breweries around the country.

“We did over 10,000 miles of travel each year for several years in order to visit breweries and talk with brewers and patrons alike on what motivates them about the craft beer movement. It was a lot of fun, we met tons of great people and the experience really informed our approach to the Slumbrew beers and community we would like to help create,” said Caitlin who heads up Somerville Brewing's marketing, events and promotion initiatives.

Critical to the launch of the brewery was the 350 sq. ft. nano-sized brewery that Caitlin and Jeff built in a small structure on their property in Somerville over the course of seven months in 2009. Building on ten years of home brewing experience, Jeff utilized this small brewery to develop and refine all of the recipes for Slumbrew.

“The Brewlab, as we call it, was really key to developing recipes unlike a lot of other mainstream beers since it allowed me to experiment with many different ingredients and techniques. The nano size provided great flexibility in what I could do and yet a dedicated brewing space with scaled-down professional equipment allowed very repeatable processes. This made for an opportunity to develop original beers that could be scaled up to commercial sizes when the time was right,” said Jeff, who is responsible for the production brewing, recipe development and procurement of all ingredients.

The first beers to be released as Slumbrew are Flagraiser IPA – a hoppy IPA dedicated to one of the first Grand Union flag raisings atop Prospect Hill in Somerville; Happy Sol – a hefeweizen brewed with local MA honey, coriander, orange peel and over 1,000 blood oranges; and Porter Square Porter – a malty chocolate porter brewed with cocoa powder and conditioned with cacao nibs from the local Taza Chocolate company. Other beers are currently in the R&D phase and will be released in early 2012 as they are perfected in order to round out a diverse and eclectic family of beer styles.

The Slumbrew brand name for the line of beers is an important part of Somerville Brewing Company's concept. Each beer aims to be a world-class, innovative expression, yet understated and using locally sourced ingredients wherever possible. The name is a snarky throwback to the term ‘Slummerville' because, as with the relationship between craft beer and large macro beers of the last century, the modern city of Somerville is nothing like its former days.

“Somerville is an incredibly vibrant place in its people, culture, businesses, food and beer. The best way to put the old term behind us as a community is to juxtapose its historical sense with the exciting new future of Somerville. For us, the name Slumbrew embodies a forward thinking enterprise to make exceptional beer with roots in a storied past,” said Jeff in describing the inspiration for the company.

Somerville Brewing Company maintains a business and operational office in Somerville near Teele Square, but don't come looking for a tasting room just yet. The actual brewing is done similar to a lot of gypsy brewers in the US where the head brewer works with other larger and established breweries to produce batch sizes needed for commercial release. Jeff is currently brewing at Mercury Brewing in Ipswich, MA where he supplies all of the specialty ingredients for each brew day and is constantly monitoring the cellaring and production of finished products. The bottles and kegs are then distributed through Arborway Imports in Burlington, MA. A local Somerville presence with a tasting room is in the early planning phases but its timing is dependent on a multitude of local zoning and licensing factors.

The official launch party for Slumbrew will be held at The Independent restaurant and pub in Union Square on Friday, November 4 from 5-8pm where the first three beers will be available. This venue was chosen as it represents one of the leading beer bar establishments in Somerville and sits at the foot of Prospect Hill which is important to the story of Flagraiser IPA while also playing a significant role in the early history of the United States.

For more information or higher resolution photos please contact Caitlin Jewell, Marketing and Mayhem Director Caitlin@slumbrew.com 617-828-4660

The first three releases are:
Flagraiser IPA 
(80 IBUs with illusive Galaxy Hops)
Happy Sol, A Blood Orange Hef
(Brewed with over 3000 Blood Oranges!)
Porter Square Porter
(dry hopped with Taza Chocolate Nibs)

These will be 22oz. Bottles. Kegs will be available to craft beer bars only. 

For sales call Sean at Arborway Imports Beer Division: 978-257-9094. For Marketing and events call or email me: caitlin@slumbrew.com

Caitlin