St. Stans Brewing Company - St. Stan's Amber Alt

St. Stan’s Amber Alt is brewed with a combination of two-row pale and caramel malts. The brewery hops it up more so than a traditional Alt beer with Fuggles, Cascade, and Tettnang hops during the boil. Then they dry hop this bad boy with Cascade making it truly an Americanized style. St. Stan’s Amber Alt is brewed in the Altbier style of Dusseldorf, Germany with a malty, creamy smooth flavor. Note a fruity Cascade hop nose and some maltiness in this medium-bodied, filtered ale. We found the flavor malty and floral. Look for a dry somewhat mildly bitter and pleasantly lingering finish in this bright copper colored ale. St. Stan’s Amber Alt recently received a Silver medal at the World Beer Championships. Overall, very creative and packed with flavor. You’re gonna love it.

St. Stan’s Brewing Company traces its origins back to 1973, when Garith Helm and his wife Romy became interested in brewing German-style beers as a hobby after returning from a trip to Germany. After many experimental brews and several visits to Germany, they successfully produced an "Alt" beer, a style that is popular in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Encouraged by the reception given to their beer by friends, Romy and Garith decided to build a modest brewery adjacent to their home in Modesto, California. Construction of the 1,000-barrel brewery commenced in 1981, and was completed in 1984. Their first commercial beer was produced in July1984, but was limited to kegs.

By 1986 they were able to bottle their beer in liter bottles, but this necessitated expansion of the brewery. It wasn’t until 1987 that they could finally bottle in 12 ounce, but once again, they faced a problem.

The original brewery that Romy and Garith had built next to their home was now running at full capacity. They knew that a new brewery would need to be built and so in the fall of 1989 they broke ground on a new facility in downtown Modesto. The new brewery was built with a capacity of 12,000 barrels per year and was completed in September 1990. To ensure the best beers possible, Romy and Garith had an up-to-date microbiological lab built so that they could constantly monitor each batch of beer. In addition, all of their fermentation and storage tanks are constructed of stainless steel.

For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (209) 524-BEER or check out their web site at www.st-stans.com.