John Maier Brews 20,000th Rogue Ale
The Veteran Rogue Brewmaster reached a milestone this week.
Yesterday Rogue Ales Brewmaster John “More Hops” Maier brewed his 20,000th batch of Rogue beer: “20,000 Brews by the Sea”.
In May of 1989, John arrived in the small coastal town of Newport just in time to create brew number one. 27 years and 20,000 brews later, John still rides his bike daily over the Yaquina Bay Bridge to the brewery where he continues to create innovative brews that have garnered international acclaim.
In classic John Maier fashion, 20,000 Brews by the Sea is not brewed to style but instead is described by John as a “complexity bomb” that honors this remarkable achievement. The beer uses 20 varieties of hops, 20 specialty malts, has a 20 year shelf life, will be brewed to 20 degrees plato, and will be bottle conditioned for 20 days.
“20,000 brews by one Brewmaster is an unprecedented achievement in the craft beer world and all of us in the Rogue family are amazed by John’s dedication, passion, work ethic, skill, creativity, and all around awesomeness,” said Rogue President Brett Joyce.
“This is a monumental brew in my career and I’m going to have a blast making it,” prosted John this morning before he began to make 20,000 Brews by the Sea.
John graduated in 1986 from the Siebel Institute, was named National Homebrewer of the Year in 1988 for his Old Crustacean Barleywine recipe, received the Brewers’ Association inaugural Russell Scherer Award in 1997, and worked at Alaskan Brewing where he created their renowned Smoked Porter.
When John isn’t brewing he’s likely to be listening to Jazz, riding one of his seven bicycles, walking his Curly Coated Retrievers, or traveling the world with his wife Stacey.
20,000 Brews by the Sea will be available beginning on October 20th in limited quantities at Rogue Meeting Halls.
