ST. LOUIS– Urban Chestnut has partnered with St. Louis distillery, Switchgrass Spirits, to create Schnickelfritz Bierschnaps, inspired by traditional Bavarian distilling. This small-batch, limited edition spirit is distilled entirely from Urban Chestnut’s classic, Bavarian Wheat, Schnickelfritz, and it is available for purchase only at UCBC’s Grove Bierhall starting this week.
Bierschnaps is a spirit that originated in Bavaria, where brewers would distill a batch of beer to capture the essence of the aromas and flavors. Urban Chestnut has worked with a Bavarian distillery in the past to create Bierschnaps using a Doppelbock brewed at their German location, Urban Chestnut Hallertau.
“After working with Brennerei Kraus in Bavaria, we couldn’t wait to bring Bierschnaps to St. Louis,” says Brewmaster and Co-Founder of UCBC, Florian Kuplent. “We decided to distill Schnickelfritz, Bavarian Wheat for our first U.S. batch, because of its unique combination of fruity and spicy flavors.”
Urban Chestnut partnered with local St. Louis distillery, Switchgrass Spirits, to help them distill the beer into schnapps. Nick Colombo, Founding Member of Switchgrass Spirits explains, “Our passion is traditional American and European spirits. We normally make whiskey and fruit brandy, but this was a really fun project which fits our style. We realized how rare bierschnaps is in the U.S., very few breweries or distilleries are making it. We are excited to work with UCBC to bring this new category of spirit to Saint Louis.”
“We partnered with Switchgrass not only because of their ability to craft excellent and delicious spirits, but also because of their commitment to the St. Louis community,” Kuplent said. “Earlier this year they collaborated with us and seven other St. Louis breweries to raise over $19,000 for service industry workers affected by the pandemic with their Common Bond Project. We were honored to be a part of that.”
Schnickelfritz Bierschnaps, sold in 750ml bottles, emanates bready and fruity aromas with hints of clove and spice. It is best served on its own or with ice and sipped as a digestif, according to Kuplent. The bottles are $30 plus tax. They can be purchased through UCBC’s online store and picked up from its Grove Bierhall: urbanchestnut.com.
About Urban Chestnut Brewing Company
Urban Chestnut Brewing Company (UCBC) is an unconventional-minded yet tradition-oriented brewer of craft beer. Founded in 2010 by Florian Kuplent – a German born and trained brewmaster with extensive experience at both small breweries, worldwide and with the world’s largest, Anheuser-Busch, and David Wolfe – a 20-year brewing-industry member. Urban Chestnut operates three breweries in St. Louis, Brewery & Biergarten at 3229 Washington Avenue in Midtown St. Louis, Grove Brewery & Bierhall at 4465 Manchester in Forest Park Southeast St. Louis, and The U.R.B. (Urban Research Brewery) at 4501 Manchester also in Forest Park Southeast St. Louis, where they brew batches of artisanal, modern American beers (their Revolution series) and classically-crafted European styles (their Reverence series). Urban Chestnut also operates a fourth brewery, Urban Chestnut Hallertauer Brauerei, in the Hallertau region of Bavaria, where they brew their Hallertauer Serie; small batches of locally sourced, Bavarian bier. For more information, visit urbanchestnut.com.
About Switchgrass Spirits
Switchgrass Spirits is a proudly Midwestern, worker-owned company that manufactures high quality Whiskey and Brandy. Their distillery is located on the industrious north side of St. Louis, MO in a beautiful American Legion Hall. They started quietly distilling from grain and aging in Missouri oak over a year ago and began releasing product in February of 2020. In addition to working on charity projects like the Common Bond Single Malt fundraiser for the Gateway Resilience Fund, they now sell handcrafted Rye Whiskey, Bourbon, Bottled Cocktails, and Apple Brandy in the Saint Louis region. To find out more about the distillery, visit www.switchgrassspirits.com
For More Information:
https://www.urbanchestnut.com/news/urban-chestnut-releases-schnickelfritz-bierschnaps