On Wednesday I had the opportunity to chat with Jake Leinenkugel, current president of The Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company. Jake continues his great-great grandfather’s dedication to brewing beer alongside his brother John and cousins David and Jamie Mayer.
The Leinenkugel’s brand was launched 143 years ago, producing its first beer in 1867 near Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Today, the company brews an array of beers in small batches. The portfolio includes the best-selling crisp Honey Weiss, made with fresh Wisconsin honey; Classic Amber, named the No. 1 new craft item in the U.S. in 2009 (based on sales by the Nielsen Co.); Berry Weiss, first introduced in 1996, before fruit beers were considered a trend; and Summer Shandy, which makes Leinenkugel’s the only U.S. brewer producing a traditional shandy-style beer.
Q. Growing up as the fifth-generation, did you always know you’d work for the company?A. It was an interesting upbringing. I grew up in the mid-1950s and it was a very different time back then, very family-oriented. I watched my dad and what he did. The business was so entrenched in our family. My dad told me stories about his upbringing in the business and it sort of excited the entire family. On weekends we went to the brewery—even as kids—so we got used to the smells and asked questions. Beyond the brewing side of things, I’d watch my dad interact with people and sell beers. What always intrigued me was the people side of beer as much as anything. After church we’d stop in a bar, as most people did in Chippewa Falls, as a social hour on Sunday. (We kids would have pop.) Then as a family we would spend the rest of the day together. I was always intrigued by the beer business, but one thing my dad wanted all of us children to do was to do something else first. I went into the Marine Corps after college. I loved it. I was in various countries, got away from the setting where I grew up with a last name that means beer in Wisconsin. Then in 1982 I was with a group of Marines in Korea and got a letter while I was sitting in the mud. The letter was from my dad and the board of directors inviting me to come back and work for the family business. I’ve been into brewing ever since.
Q. Leinenkugel’s Classic Amber Lager, a 100% malted lager, closed out 2009 as the year’s No. 1 new craft item in the U.S. based on sales. What’s the history of that particular brew?A. It’s actually my favorite beer. For a long time we’ve made so many different varieties and we wanted to go back to the roots of what my great-great grandfather brewed, the original way of brewing. We selected three of our favorite malts and four different hops. We wanted to make a beer that was a classic, well-balanced yet very drinkable, where people can enjoy one or two or three and find it refreshing but with some substance to it. It has great flavor without being too filling and not a lot of hop-y bitters. It’s been successful and we’re very happy with it. It pairs well with food. We enjoy not only pairing beer with food but also making different recipes with our beers.
Q. Who develops recipes using Leinenkugel beer as an ingredient?A. My wife Peggy does a lot. She’s quite a cook. Over the last 20 years she's experimented with different sauces using different varieties of our beers. When she comes up with good recipes that we’ve tried and love we write them into the
Leinie Legend newsletter. Readers respond back and come up with their own recipes. If you go to
our website you’ll find a wide variety of recipes. Every recipe you see has been tested. One of my favorites is
Berry Neiss Chili. It’s absolutely phenomenal, one of the best chilis I’ve ever tasted. Beer pairs well with food
and works in recipes.
Q. What’s your beer recipe development process?A. There are so many different microbreweries out there doing different styles of beer and making big alcohol beers that are highly hopped up. We’ve done that, but we like to make more drinkable beers for people who may have started out drinking Budweiser or Coors or Miller but want to try something different. We look at our category as a ‘step-up’ to bigger better beer yet appealing and enjoyable. It doesn’t work with every consumer but we’ve been successful and always try to experiment. We got so many requests for a berry beer since berries grow in Wisconsin. We experimented and our Berry Weiss beer is hugely successful, mainly with women but also men. The biggest thing I’ve noticed over the last 30 years is that the American beer consumer is more open to different varieties and styles than ever before. I think that’s going to continue so we can be bolder and more different than a traditional brewer. We can try different things and if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.
Q. When I think of Wisconsin berries I think of cranberries. Do you have a cranberry beer in the works?
A. We’ve got the largest cranberry growers around. We haven’t done a cranberry yet, but you’re onto something. We tried it and it was a little more tart and bitter than we’d expected. So we use blackberries in our Berry Weiss, we wanted a sweeter balance. We’re still looking at cranberries because they do have a great connection to Wisconsin. We’re looking at what malt will go best to counterbalance the tart. Give us a couple of years.
Q. What do you see as current beer trends?A. The No. 1 biggest right now without a doubt are things that are ‘new and different.’ No. 2 are seasonal beers; everybody’s seasonals are doing quite well even in today’s economic conditions. Thirdly, when you can offer variety packs with different styles—like a 12-pack with four bottles each of three different flavors—that’s extremely popular, too. It’s an easy and relatively inexpensive way to try new beers and experiment with beer pairings. The new beer drinker is watching very little TV. Reading blogs is all the rage right now, plus texting and Facebook. That’s how they learn and communicate so we’re more adept to that now than in the last few years.
To produce Woodford Reserve, Master Distiller Chris Morris explains that whole grains of corn, rye and malted barley are milled and then cooked in limestone-filtered water. Sour is then added to the mash.
Though one might argue that Congress had bigger issues to resolve than when to celebrate what's arguably the best cocktail to accompany Mexican fare, let's raise our glasses and toast our southern neighbors.
Currently, eight Kentucky distilleries are open for visitors: Woodford Reserve, Four Roses, Buffalo Trace, Maker's Mark, Tom Moore, Jim Beam, Heaven Hill and Wild Turkey. (Most participate in the "Bourbon Trail," so visitors can collect all the necessary stamps in a free passport and get a free T-shirt.)
The peanut-butter/chocolate dessert (back row, left) was my favorite. Not that I'd pass up any of the others....
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