DICK BROTHERS BREWING

OUR STORY:

We plan on reinvigorating the old Dick Brothers Quincy Brewery historic German brewing techniques and beer styles. In 1871, unification was achieved with the formation of the new German Empire under the leadership of Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. The Reinheitsgebot formed the basis of legislation that spread slowly throughout Bavaria and Germany. Bavaria insisted on Reinheitsgebot’s application throughout Germany as a precondition of German unification in 1871, to prevent competition from beers brewed elsewhere with a wider range of ingredients. The move encountered strong resistance from brewers outside Bavaria. By restricting the allowable ingredients, it led to the extinction of many brewing traditions and local beer specialties, such as North German spiced beer and cherry beer, and led to the domination of the German beer market by pilsner style beers. Having moved to the U.S. in 1853, The Dick Brothers, Mathew, John and Jacob at the time aged 34, 26, and 19, would have been privy to these different brewing traditions and different styles that flourished throughout Germany and Bavaria. This is evident by their use of 300-barrel rice cooker on the third floor that blew up and devastated the building. Using rice in the Dick Brother?s lager beers was a direct violation of Reinheitsgebot. Because 1) the Dick Brothers moved to the U.S. from Ruppertsberg, Rhein-Pfalz, Bavaria in 1853, 2) German unification and Reinheitsgebot application through Bavaria started in 1871 after the Dick Brothers had moved to the U.S. 3) Dick Brothers use of a rice cooker indicates that their brewing techniques utilized a decoction mash technique, 4) Pilsner beer was introduced in 1842 in Pilsen Bohemia and to the U.S. in St. Louis 1876 and after WWII and prohibition would be one of the only beer styles to survive in American brewing… one can conclude that the original beers and recipes used by the Dick Brothers Quincy Brewing Company were reminiscent of the many German, Bohemian, and greater European brewing styles to include Munich Helles, Dortmunder, German Pilsner, Bohemian Pilsner, Vienna Lager, Oktoberfest, Munich Dunkel, Schwarzbier, Maibock, Bock, Doppelbock, Eisbock, Weissbier, Dunkelweizen, Weizenbock, Roggenbier, North German spiced beer, cherry bock beer, Breyhan (Broyhan), Hamburger Bier, and Braunschweiger Mumme.

OUR APPROACH:

Dick Brothers Brewing Company is a microbrewery that will potentially be located in or near the historic Dick Brothers Quincy Brewery complex at 9th and York, Quincy, Il. Our craft beers include various session beers, seasonal beers, and several beers in the design phase. Our approach is to keep our set of 6 flagship craft beers, plus 6 seasonal beers and offer a research and development set of beers where we are continually improving our German “throwback beer” recipes. This will allow us to keep a small diversified production with R&D batches at 2 bbl or less, local production at 7 bbl batches, and an offsite contract brewer to brew 30 bbl batches. Successful R&D batches will transition to 7 bbl batches and then ultimately be transferred to 30 bbl batches. The microbrewery will feature on-site, self distributed and regional distributor sales. The company’s heart is based in the ability to self-distribute to local restaurants or businesses and create an array of diversified session beers, seasonal beers, and specialty beers specifically developed with the customer. We use the historic German brewing techniques and German beer styles to recreate our “throwback beers”. “Throwback beers” are a reversion to the earlier ancestral characteristics and recipes of the original Dick Brothers Quincy Brewery and German brewing styles. These will be accentuated by pairing them with authentic German cuisine. To best accentuate the aromas and flavors appropriate to each of the craft beer styles we have created unique pairing suggestions that we will use to market to local restaurants and retail customers.

Source: icnw