Samuel Adams Brewers Debut Kosmic Mother Funk Grand Cru, A Limited Release One-Of-A-Kind Funky Belgian Ale

BOSTON, Aug. 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The brewers at Samuel Adams are no strangers to taking time to focus on their passion projects, and the latest example is the 2014 release of Samuel Adams Kosmic Mother Funk Grand Cru. Kosmic Mother Funk (KMF) is a unique Belgian ale, aged in Hungarian oak tuns for over a year and fermented with multiple micro-organisms found in the environment of the historic brewery.

On August 23rd, the Samuel Adams brewers released a small batch version called Kosmic Mother Funk Grand Cru that's been uniquely aged for two years in the Barrel Room at the Boston Brewery. A touch of Belgian candi sugar has been added to balance the beer's tart acidity and lend a smoothness and sweetness to the finish. This special brew debuted on August 23rd in San Diego at the 2014 Beer Bloggers Conference, and will be available on draft in select U.S. cities as part of the Kosmic Mother Funk Grand Cru 12-City Tasting tour, which runs from August through November.

The inspiration for Kosmic Mother Funk is Belgian beer styles and brewing techniques including blending, aging and conditioning beers for wild and flavorful results. The Samuel Adams brewers began by taking a Belgian ale and aging it in Hungarian oak tuns and as time went on the beer continued to evolve and take on a life and character of its own, only to be described as a kosmic collection of flavors. The porous character of the wood allows air to slowly seep into the beer during secondary fermentation, smoothing out any harsh flavors. Wild yeast and bacteria including Brettanomyces and Lactobacillus also interact with the aging brew, imparting unique spicy, fruity and bright tart flavors.  Long contact with the wood imparts its own flavors of oak and vanilla.  This unique brew was then blended at varying levels into a series of Belgian brews, the manifestation of which became the Samuel Adams Barrel Room Collection. 

Originally a French term used to describe wine vintages, when used in the context of beer, 'Grand Cru' has come to denote a brew that is the 'best of the best.' When crafting Kosmic Mother Funk Grand Cru, the brewers at Samuel Adams aimed to create a unique brew unlike anything they had barrel-aged before.  KMF Grand Cru is a wild, funky and complex ale, with a depth of flavors ranging from earthy and spicy to floral and sweet.

What Founder and Brewer Jim Koch has to say about Kosmic Mother Funk Grand Cru: "Kosmic Mother Funk is at the heart and soul of our Samuel Adams Barrel Room Collection, and one of the most unique brews ever to come out of our Boston Brewery. Kosmic Mother Funk Grand Cru is tart and funky, with notes of dark fruit, cocoa, cherry and vanilla, as well as a subtle smooth sweetness. Although KMF Grand Cru may not be for everyone – it's certainly not your average beer – I believe it is a truly delicious brew that will open many palates and minds to the world of funky beers." 

Kosmic Mother Funk Grand Cru 12-City Tasting Tour - #KMFtour
Following the official release of Kosmic Mother Funk Grand Cru at the 2014 Beer Bloggers Conference in San Diego on August 23rd, the KMF Grand Cru Tasting Tour will visit 12 cities from August through November, with the brew available on tap in select locations throughout each city. The final tour stop will be voted on by craft beer lovers across the country.

The Kosmic Mother Funk Grand Cru Tasting Tour will visit:

• Boston
• New York
• Denver
• Cleveland
• Dallas
• Philadelphia
• Washington, D.C.
• Chicago
• San Francisco
• San Diego 
• Seattle
• TBD (Drinker's Choice!)

For tour dates and to vote for your city as the final stop, visit www.SamuelAdams.com/kmf.  

ABOUT THE BOSTON BEER COMPANY:
The Boston Beer Company began in 1984 with a generations-old family recipe that Founder and Brewer Jim Koch uncovered in his father's attic. Inspired and unafraid to challenge conventional thinking about beer, Jim brought the recipe to life in his kitchen.  Pleased with the results of his work, Jim decided to sample his beer with bars in Boston in the hopes that drinkers would appreciate the complex, full-flavored beer he brewed fresh in America.  That beer was aptly named Samuel Adams Boston Lager, in recognition of one of our nation's great founding fathers, a man of independent mind and spirit.  Little did Jim know at the time, Samuel Adams Boston Lager would soon become a catalyst of the American craft beer revolution.

Today, The Boston Beer Company brews more than 60 styles of beer.  It relentlessly pursues the development of new styles and the perfection of classic beers by searching the world for the finest ingredients.  Using the traditional four vessel brewing process, the Company often takes extra steps like dry-hopping, barrel-aging and a secondary fermentation known as krausening. The Company has also pioneered another revolution, the 'extreme beer' movement, where it seeks to challenge drinker's perceptions of what beer can be. The Boston Beer Company has been committed to elevating the image of American craft beer by entering festivals and competitions around the globe, and is one of world's most awarded breweries at international beer competitions. As an independent company, brewing quality beer remains its single focus. Although Samuel Adams beer is America's largest-selling craft beer, it accounts for only one percent of the U.S. beer market.  The Boston Beer Company will continue its independently-minded quest to brew great beer and to advocate for the growth of craft beer across America. For more information, please visit www.samueladams.com. 

ABOUT THE SAMUEL ADAMS BARREL ROOM COLLECTION:
The Samuel Adams Barrel Room Collection is a collection of barrel-aged beers inspired by Belgian brews and their approach to blending, aging and conditioning beers for wild and flavorful results.  For this collection, the brewers at Samuel Adams developed a unique ale called Kosmic Mother Funk, or KMF. KMF is the soul of these beers and is blended into each at different levels. It's KMF that adds a whole new spectrum of flavors to the beer from earthy and spicy to floral and sweet.  KMF is aged in Hungarian oak tuns for up to 12 months. The tuns began their second life for aging KMF when they were disassembled by coopers (barrel makers) in Portugal, shipped to the Boston Brewery and reassembled by hand in the brewery's Barrel Room by the same Portuguese coopers. Aging in wood imparts a subtly sweet, toasty note to each beer, and allows a small amount of oxygen to slowly seep into each brew for smoothness. Samuel Adams Barrel Room Collection brews include Samuel Adams American Kriek, Samuel Adams New World, Samuel Adams Stony Brook Red, Samuel Adams Thirteenth Hour, and Samuel Adams Tetravis.  The styles in the Samuel Adams Barrel Room Collection are packaged in 750mL cork finished bottles.

Samuel Adams, Samuel Adams Boston Lager, Samuel Adams New World, Samuel Adams Thirteenth Hour, Samuel Adams Tetravis, Stony Brook Red and Kosmic Mother Funk are registered trademarks of The Boston Beer Company.

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