It’s Seattle Beer Week so it’s fitting for one iconic Seattle beer brand to collaborate with an up-and-coming Seattle craft brewery to create a stripped down, hoppy beer that can make everyone happy.
Little r, meet big R.
Rainier Brewing, known almost as much for the giant red R that towered over the city for decades as its German-style lager that was a mainstay in Northwest fridges for just as long, teamed up with Seattle’s Reuben’s Brewing to brew r&R Pils, a hoppy pilsner in anticipation of this year’s Seattle Beer Week.
The beer was the brainchild of Rainier Beer brand manager Michael Scott, who lives near Reuben’s Ballard location. He visits Reuben’s often and thought a collaboration between the two breweries would be a great idea.
“As a large brewery doing a collaboration was a new step for us,” Scott said. “We had to go to school a little bit.”
For Reuben’s Brewing, which was started by an expat Englishman named Adam Robbings in 2012, this was old hat. Robbings has collaborated on a number of beers with other small craft breweries.
What was a little different for Robbings, who is used to brewing English-style ales, was the German basis of the beer. Another obstacle was the distance between the collaborators. Robbings worked with Pabst Beer brewer John Kimes, who is in Milwaukee, on the recipe.
“We were shipping beer across the country and John was trying different samples, so it was a challenge getting on the same page,” Scott said. “But it worked it.”
As for the finished product, r&R Pils uses a bit of rye in its malt bill to go with hops like Cashmere, Galaxy and Azacca. The beer has a slight fruit-forward hop finish, giving it a little more dimension than most pilsners.
The beer, which will be brewed at Pabst’s facilities in Redmond, will be distributed throughout the Pacific Northwest on draft, in 12-ounce six packs and 22-ounce bottles.
Seattle Beer Week
The annual celebration of all things Seattle beer runs through May 14. Reuben’s will host an r&R Pils launch party May 10 at the brewery, 5010 54th Ave. NW, Seattle. Enjoy the beer and music from Deep Sea Diver.
Here’s a look at some SBW events happening in Snohomish County:
May 6: Drink bourbon and whiskey barrel-aged beers and smoke cigars from Don Pepin Garcia of My Father Cigar Co. at Stogies ‘n Hops.
May 7: Bothell’s The Hop and Hound is hosting a donut and beer pairing event from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the bottleshop, 18116 101st Ave. NE.
May 13: Bring man’s best friend, sip a beer and enjoy hot dogs from a food cart the this event at The Hop and Hound. Seattle’s Barkery Dog Truck will be on hand from 5 to 9 p.m. and $1 from the sale of every pint will go to PAWS to help dogs in need.
May 14: Dust off those pink hats and tip a pint back for the ladies at Special Brews from 8 p.m. to close. Visit with women representatives from breweries, including Dogfish Head and Uinta.
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