Beer of the week: Apple Cup inspires two new brews in Bothell

Butch’s Brew and Kastrated Dawg, Foggy Noggin Brewing, Bothell

Style: Brown Ale (Butch’s Brew); English Strong Ale (Kastrated Dawg)

Stats: Butch’s Brew: 3.5 percent ABV, 28 IBU; Kastrated Dawg: 5.7 percent ABV, 59 IBU

Available: On tap at the brewery, which will be open from 2 to 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

My thoughts: It’s Apple Cup week, so it makes sense to pick out two beers to highlight that represent the two schools.

Foggy Noggin owner/head brewer Jim Jamison started brewing beers that were named after Pac-12 schools when he first opened back in 2009. Because Jamison is a native Oregonian, he started with Christmas Duck, a porter, and Bit ‘O Beaver, an English bitter.

Later he turned his focus to Washington. It was 2010 and the Huskies were struggling, so Jamison thought of the name Kastrated Dawg. But not for the reason one might think.

“To make farm animals stronger and better workers, farmers will castrate them,” Jamison said. “So I thought if you castrated the Dawgs they’d be a stronger, better team.”

So there you go, Husky fans, a whole new reason for UW’s recent success.

Kastrated Dawg is an English strong ale, a big, bold rich beer brewed with black strap molasses and Fuggle and Golding hops. Jamison said the molasses adds a real earthy sweetness.

The beer Jamison chose to represent the Cougars, Butch’s Brew, named after WSU’s mascot, is a brown ale brewed with roasted hazelnuts.

Jamison gets the hazelnuts fresh from Oregon and roasts them on the same day as he brews the beer. He then cuts them in half and places the nuts on the top of the grain in the mash. The grain captures the oils, giving the beer the essence of hazelnuts without the oiliness.

Jamison said the beer, which has a strong nutty character and low alcohol content, is a perfect pair for Thanksgiving. Also it’ll be available on nitro on Thanksgiving.

So who is Jamison, an Oregon State grad, rooting for on Friday?

“I’ll probably be rooting for the Cougars since I pay for tuition for two of my daughters to go there,” Jamison said.

Another Foggy Noggin beer with a connection to football is its Cease & Desist Skittles IPA. Jamison said they just started bottling the beer and has it available at the brewery.

From the brewery: Butch’s Brew: “This traditional English Brown has locally grown hazelnuts that have been freshly roasted to the mash. The result, a rich malt forward beer with a wonderful medley of sweet flavors that linger long in a dry pleasing finish.” Kastrated Dawg: “An aggressively bold, while gentle and smooth English strong ale. A big malt forward flavor is well balanced with an aggressive hop bitterness. All tongue with nothing to lick.”

More new releases:

Adjunct-Garde IPA, Skookum Brewery: IPA brewed with flaked rice, oat and wheat malts. Hopped heavily with mosaic, citra and el dorado hops. Bright, citrusy and tropical with a clean dry finish.

Asesinato de Cuervos, Skookum Brewery: An imperial stout conditioned on ancho and arbol chilis, whole vanilla beans, cinnamon sticks and cocoa nibs. Think Mexican chocolate/dessert beer.

Amber and Pumpkin Spice Ale, SnoTown Brewery: The Amber is rich and malty perfect beer for autumn. Forget pumpkin spiced lattes, and get it in a beer.