Christian Moerlein Brewing Company - Friend of an Irishman Brewer’s Stout

The era of the original Christian Moerlein Brewery was one of European immigration to the major cities of the United States. Cincinnati became the foreign home for waves of German and Irish immigrants. The two groups overcame cultural differences, and may have banded together to some extent in response to the temperance movement—the precursor to prohibition—which vilified the Germans and the Irish who were alleged to be well-known for their supposedly heavy drinking. Their friendship and alliance are celebrated by this beer. This is an example of an Irish-style dry stout. Traditionally modest in alcohol content, dry stout suffers from the misconception that it is a highly caloric, overly intoxicating, heavy beer. Quite the contrary, the style tends to offer up fewer calories than most far-paler Belgian-style ales or amber IPAs, for example, mainly due to the fact that it has far less alcohol. The heaviness comes from people equating depth of color with “strength”—a connection that only works when you compare color of straw-water macrobrews against everything else, and the lingering flavors left on the palate by dark malts. On the nose, expect notes of roasted coffee beans. Also look for fresh oats, which are used to enhance the dryness and to bolster the mouthfeel of what would otherwise be a fairly thin beer. Flavorwise, this is a coffee-driven malt profile—all coming from the use of highly kilned malts (there is no coffee used in the brewing process, it’s all malted barley baby!). The feel is moderately light and even crisp in the mouth, right in line with the style. Roasty notes and lightly astringent bitterness linger in the coffee and faint chocolate notes in the finish. A highly drinkable domestic Irish-style Dry Stout. Sláinte!

Cincinnati, Ohio, is home to a rich brewing tradition. One particular region, north of downtown, was a focal point for German immigrant settlers and, by no coincidence, became a brewing center. Many of the settlers to the area made a daily trek across bridges over the Miami and Erie Canal, which separated the area from downtown Cincinnati. In homage to their homeland they called their neighborhood "Over-the-Rhine," imagining the canal to be the Rhine River. In its heyday, Cincinnati's brewing industry boasted 36 operating breweries, many based in the “O.T.R.” area. One of the gents who kicked off the brewing-centric nature of the Cincinnati area was Christian Moerlein, a Bavarian blacksmith who immigrated to America in 1841. Within a year he had settled in Cincinnati and in 1853 established the Christian Moerlein (pronounced "more-line") Brewery. Moerlein became the most prominent brewer in the city, and ranked among the top ten in the nation, selling his product across the United States as well as to other countries, which is notable because at the time, no other Cincinnati brewer had entered the international marketplace. The brewery continued to operate after his death in 1897. However, in 1920, Prohibition dealt the brewery a fatal blow. In the late 1970s, another famous Cincinnati German-brewed beer brand, Hudepohl, founded in 1885, resurrected the Moerlein brand. But Hudepohl eventually folded and the brands passed to the Snyder International Brewing Group, who kept the brand alive (barely) and moved production of this key Ohio brand to Maryland. In 2004, Greg Hardman, a greater Cincinnati resident and successful beverage industry veteran, hatched a plan to bring this beer back home to Cincinnati and purchased the Christian Moerlein brands and recipes. Takin’ it back to the people! For more information about the Christian Moerlein Brewery check out www.christianmoerlein.com.