Tapped: June 21st!
@ 6:30PM

The Drafting Room Taproom & Grille announces THE RELEASE DATE FOR “Drafting Room 11th Anniversary Ale“ BY TRÖEGS BREWING COMPANY

The Drafting Room Taproom & Grille (www.draftingroom.com), with locations in Exton and Springhouse, Pennsylvania announced the June 21st release date for their own “Drafting Room 11th Anniversary Ale,” a house beer brewed exclusively for them by Tröegs Brewing Company (www.troegs.com) in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

“After the overwhelming success of last year’s 10th Anniversary Ale (more info on the 10th Ale), it was an easy decision to go back to Chris and John at Troegs for our 11th,” said Patrick Mullin, General Manager of the Exton location. “Reviews and feedback on last year’s offering were beyond expectations. We quite literally had people coming in on a daily basis to fill and refill growlers. People couldn't get enough of it!.”

Figuring out how to differentiate this beer from the 10th Anniversary Ale became something of a challenge. “We liked last year’s formula so much, we were hesitant to meddle with the recipe,” Mullin offered. It was agreed, however, that the beer should change from year to year. “This is a program that we plan to pursue for many years to come,” owner Andrew Weintraub offered. “It was important to us to create a unique and distinct product for 2005. We have not even out ruled the possibility of having other talented local brewers play a part in future Anniversary Ales. For this year, though, we felt that Tröegs had more than earned our repeat business.”

Brothers Chris and John Troegner founded Tröegs Brewing in 1997. As they like to say, “We aren’t concerned with making beer to a particular style, as much as we want to create a quality beer that we like to drink—that’s what is really important.” In addition to a long-standing relationship with The Drafting Room, Tröegs products are available throughout Pennsylvania as well as in New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. Tröegs is open to the public for tours every Saturday at 2:00pm.

Brewing took place on Tuesday, May 17th at Tröeg’s Brewery at 800 Paxton Avenue in Harrisburg. Although the style once again remains a matter of some speculation, a new and unique hop, Palisade, will play an important role. Mullin explains, “There’s not too many ‘mid-alpha’ hops prevalent on the market today. Palisade walks the line between bittering and aroma with alpha acids just under 10%. It has a soft, clean finish with characteristics similar to Willamette.” Once again, Troegs will be “dry-hopping” the final product for an increased fresh, floral hop aroma. Additional hops include Tomahawk, Warrior and Cascade.

Having recently been the recipient of the “Best Draft Beer” and “Best Bottled Beer” awards from Main Line Today Magazine for the second year in a row, The Drafting Room continues it’s 11-year tradition of serving the most respected and sought-after beers available. A recent partnership with Rogue Brewing of Newport, Oregon (www.rogue.com) has allowed both Drafting Room locations the opportunity to serve a series of specialty ales by Rogue brewer John Maier only available at 60 select accounts across the country.

Both Drafting Room locations are open 7 days a week and feature an extensive array of draft and bottled products. Much like last year, The Drafting Room's 11th Anniversary Ale will play a major role in the season-long eleventh anniversary celebration. Both Drafting Room locations will feature several “Meet the Brewer” events, a weekly BBQ night on Wednesdays and a New England Lobster Bake every weekend.

Mullin hopes the success of 11th Anniversary Ale rivals that of the 10th. “The Drafting Room played a fairly major role in recipe formulation and flavor profile, much like last year. We brewed an additional 5 barrels (ten ½ kegs) in anticipation of the excitement from last year. We have great confidence in the quality of product that Troegs can produce.”