The Brewers sipped the very first sips of their new Beerded Brewer IPA, and here's what they thought
In May, we were informed of the amazing fact that
It was named the Beerded Brewer IPA and, this past weekend, the MillerCoors-developed concoction made its debut at a private event in Milwaukee. Thames, Drake and Knebel were on hand to get their first sips:
MLB.com was also there to get the players' reactions. Here's what they had to say:
Q. How'd it taste? Did it meet your expectations? <o:p>
Knebel: It did. Thames did a great job.<o:p>
Thames: I did a great job? No. I chose one hop and these guys were like "Let's choose new hops. Let's try an experimental hop." It exceeded all of our expectations. It's so good. It was a dry hop.<o:p>
Drake: It's wicked awesome.
<o:p>
Q. So, when your baseball career is over, will you consider becoming a beer master? <o:p>
Thames: Well, it takes like 15 years, right? Or how long does it take?<o:p>
Knebel: I'll be a professional beer taster. I'll go with that. That's a start.<o:p>
Thames: I'll go the Corey Knebel route and start brewing stuff in my fridge and jugs and start doing that. See how it goes. Then, I'll apply for a job at Miller. <o:p>
Knebel: It's tough, man. Nothing like this.
<o:p>
Q. What does it taste like?<o:p>
Knebel: The hops but it's not too hoppy. For being an IPA, it's very smooth. I know the IPAs I've made are pretty hoppy. I've made double IPAs. This is like 100 times better than any beer I've ever made, so there's no topping that.
<o:p>
Q. What'd you learn through the process of brewing?
<o:p>
Thames: Patience. A lot of patience. Before I started like learning about brewing beer, I thought you just put stuff together, like get it hot, cook it. Then, the beer is ready in a couple days. But no. It takes weeks of fermenting it and kind of getting everything to seep in all the flavors. It's a process. These guys are pros here. When we came the first day and he was breaking down the process, we were like "Man, this is a full-on 24/7 job."
Drake: It's like a science experiment.
Thames: Yeah. They were playing with beakers and all this stuff and PH levels. Like man, this is insane. <o:p>
Knebel: The bigger the better. The bigger tanks they've got. They use like five gallon tanks. There's nothing you can compare to the thousand-pound tanks they've got. The bigger the better.
<o:p>The beer will be available at Miller Park exclusively for those fans who purchase the "Beerded Brewer IPA on Tap" ticket package on Aug. 10.
