E-Malt.com News article: USA, CA: Green Flash Brewing Co. releases a new Belgian-style Pale Ale

Green Flash Brewing Co proudly announces the national release of Rayon Vert™, Brewbound.com reported on November, 4.

The craft brewery’s breakthrough Belgian-style Pale Ale will be available in stores by January 2012.The launch marks the end-result of a meticulous process that has been in progress for over 4 years.

One increasingly significant source of inspiration for the team has been the Belgian Abbeys and their flagship ales. The idea to make Rayon Vert was sparked by a self-imposed challenge: produce a Belgian-Abbey style ale to unmistakably express the spirit of Green Flash if the brewery were producing just one beer and operating under the conditions of pre-WWII Belgium.

Known for pushing boundaries and taking chances, Green Flash is introducing Rayon Vert to the national consumer as an ale bottle-conditioned with wild-yeast, packaged in single serve 12 oz. bottle 4-packs.

“When we initially challenged ourselves to create the Green Flash version of a flagship Belgian, we were uncertain as to how the process would unfold. It started by asking ourselves, ‘What would Green Flash be if we brewing in Belgium 80 years ago?’ Rayon Vert is the culmination of our entire team’s inspired dedication to the process,” says Green Flash co-founder, Mike Hinkley. “We worked on the concept and beer for four years, and as Green Flash evolved, so did Rayon Vert. So much went into the beer that it is one of my proudest moments, to finally release Rayon Vert. It signifies a major milestone for Green Flash.”

Everything from the 2010 re-design of Green Flash’s distinctly heavy 12 oz bottle (which can withstand the high levels of natural CO2 conditioning associated with Belgian Ales) to the choice of packaging as a four-pack rather than a traditional six, are decisions the brewery made in preparation to release Rayon Vert. The team – including husband and wife owners Mike and Lisa Hinkley as well as Brewmaster, Chuck Silva – traveled to Belgium for hands-on inspiration. They visited many Belgian breweries on their way to collaborate with 150 year-old family owned Belgian brewery Brasserie St-Feuillien on Bière de l’Amitié, which means Friendship Brew.

“After experimenting with many variables to create the definitive signature Belgian-Style Pale Ale, I ultimately settled on using a yeast that is unique to Green Flash for the base character and further developed the beer from there,” explains Green Flash Brewmaster Chuck Silva. “Keeping the ingredient list simple seemed to be the best approach,” he continues. “Focusing on hop complexity was always in the forefront, but how to finish the beer was the unknown challenge. We grew inspired by Saison and Belgian Ales that finish dry and have a slightly wild character and we made the bold and risky decision to launch this new, Green Flash front-line beer with Brettanomyces bottle conditioning.”

Hinkley makes a strong point that perfectly describes the bold move to debut this beer in spite of the significant risks involved: “With the release of Rayon Vert, we move forward confidently, but without certainty.” This statement is as much about Green Flash as a brewery as it is about the new release, and it is this sentiment that truly captures how, after years of trial and error, this beer came to be the one. Rayon Vert is translated as Green Flash from French.


10 November, 2011