AND THEN THERE'S THIS HERETIC SERIES

WeвЂ™re not trying to reinvent craft beer, but maybe we can try to be creative with our first beers. It seems to us that there are plenty of gaps in beer space, so we are trying to find some of those new or underserved niches to fill with our first beers. It isnвЂ™t that weвЂ™re anti-style, but there are so many great beers out there already, we donвЂ™t want to start off by brewing another great version of the same beers that are already popular. Beers that are always interesting and sometimes challenging for the craft beer lover.

We, of course, want to brew beers that we feel are exceptional.

The funny thing is, it never occurred to me that Heretic would brew anything вЂњto style.вЂќ Our first discussions about beer involved creating something new, something we couldnвЂ™t find for sale already. Some internet pundits doubted that I could think outside the style box.

AND THEN THERE'S THIS HERETIC SERIES

The general consensus seemed to be that since I write the Style Profile column for Brew Your Own, and I did a whole series of shows on the Brewing Network about brewing the BJCP styles, and I co-authored a book called Brewing Classic Styles, then I must want to brew beers that were strictly to BJCP style. High quality they kindly proclaimed, but very style specific. When I first announced Heretic Brewing Company, I read an online discussion of what beers Heretic would produce. Heck, I didnвЂ™t have any style in mind, but they wanted an answer, so I would proceed to mumble something about flavors and character until we both became confused. What else would one brew? However, people insisted on knowing what вЂњstyleвЂќ of beer Heretic would produce. вЂњIвЂ™m going to brew great, tasty beer!вЂќ I thought to myself. The first thing people ask when you tell them you are opening a brewery is, вЂњWhat kind of beer are you going to brew?вЂќ I guess that is a reasonable question, although at first I thought it was kind of a weird question.

And then there's this heretic