False Advertising or is my math Fubar?

Went out to eat dinner tonight and had me a Spotted Cow. I couldnt place they style of it so I figured whenI gothome I'd look it up (farmhouse ale wasntmuch of a help, I'm guessing like a cream ale or someting /shrug)

So I was looking at some of their other beers and came across this . . .

Wisconsin Belgian Red
Our International World Champion Specialty Beer is a true winner. Brewed with whole Montmorency Cherries, Wisconsin Wheat and Belgian roasted barleys. Over a pound of Door County cherries in each bottle. Ruby red in color, a medium body, highly carbonated and intense with cherry flavor and bouquet.

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OK now when I make a 5 gallon batch I get about 54 bottles give or take . . . are they trying to tell me they are using 54ish lbs of cherrys per 5 gallons?

I though MAYBE it was a typoe so I clicked the link (in the quote above) and saw this . . .

You have to use your imagination! Stop ruining our society with your reality thinking.

It can in bizzarro world where the #1 post is a response to the #2 question.

I dunno, Papazian's 'Cherries in the snow' calls for 10pounds of cherries and it's a regular beer. Their figure may not be too far out to lunch for a cherry kriek - which I am assuming is what that is.

I thought a spotted cow was called a holstein?

I've had that Wisconsin Belgian Red once. I don't know how many pounds of cherries are in it, but it tastes and smells like cherry juice with a little beer added. Kind of like a bad cherry wine with beer flavor. I dunno- maybe they weigh the cherries with pits and stems, then destem and pit and crush. I'm not great at math, but when I make fruit wines, I usually use 3-5 pounds per gallon depending on the fruit, and it doesn't really taste like the fruit I'm using if that makes sense. For example, rhubarb wine doesn't taste much like rhubarb at all, grape wine doesn't really taste like grapes, etc. But if I used a pound of that fruit per bottle, it'd be like- holy s***, that's rhubarb! That's the kind of effect you get with that cherry beer stuff.

By the way, how did you like the Spotted Cow? We drink that occasionally in the summer, and it's ok for us. Nothing spectacular, but better than Bud.

Lorena

Maybe they mean they use the juice from a pound of cherries, lightly crushed, in each bottle? Maybe they use the FLAVOR of a pound of cherries in every bottle. There's a broad and vague area there. Kinda like the Keebler Elves. We know elves aren't actually making those cookies, just a bunch of midgets that live in a tree. From a marketing standpoint, elves sound a hell of a lot better. They wouldn't be the first brewer to use misleading advertising.
The Steel Brewing Co. website claims they use " Extra malt and extra hops for a higher gravity beer". Didn't know hops added to the gravity reading that much.

I'm just saying, that's all......

I say give em a call and just ask. Buy 1# of montmercy cherries and crush them to see how much juice you get. That'll be your answer I think.

lorenae said:

By the way, how did you like the Spotted Cow? We drink that occasionally in the summer, and it's ok for us. Nothing spectacular, but better than Bud.

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It was OK. A decent lawnmower type beer but nothing I would go out of my way to clone or buy. I guess my biggest complaint is it was thinand I like very thick brews, a good many of the beers I make have legs.

glibbidy said:

I thought a spotted cow was called a holstein?

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No they're not...they're called Dalmation Cow's ...they just take longer to get on the fire truck since they have short legs...

New Glarus Brewing brews some of the finest beers in the Midwest. I love their Staghorn Oktoberfest and Uff-da Bock. Their Fat Squirrel Nut Brown Ale seemed to be a staple in many bars and restaurants in LaCrosse when I was there in February. While I was there, I picked up a 4-pack of their 'Unplugged' Smoked Rye Bock! Man, that was good - and very different!:rockin: I hope they do that one again! The Spotted Cow is a nice summer cream ale.

I'm sure if you were to call Dan Carey, the co-owner/brewmaster there, he'd be glad to explain it. But I wouldn't doubt that they use what would mathematically work out to be 1 lb. of cherries per bottle. It takes a lot of fruit to yield the requisite amount of juice to give a fruit beer flavor. You end up with a lot more pulp vs. juice. I helped my g/f do a blueberry ale last Spring and, gawd, what a mess! That's why a lot of brewers and homebrewers take the easy route and use fruit extracts.

The unplugged sessions are the best. The last one was Cherry Stout. I don't think they continue brewing them do they? The next one is going to be avail. October...I wonder what it will be...anyone know?

I don't know if you know, but they are building a bigger facility. I certainly hope quality and the "small brewery" feel sticks. Or I could be talking trash and thinking of another brewery...maybe Bell's just moved into a bigger brewhouse?

Exo said:

... but they are building a bigger facility?

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I hadn't heard that. I know Bell's did move into a larger facility.

Yes, the Unplugged beers, they state on the package, "may or may not" be brewed again. Guess it depends on how vocal customers are. I used to be able to get New Glarus in the Chicago area, but several years ago they either cut back or lost their local their distribution here. I used to pick up a sixer of something of theirs nearly every other weekend. Now, I have to cross the border!

Just saw this today: New Glarus, brewery reach agreement