GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Grand Rapids brewery took home a gold medal at the Best of Craft Beer Awards for their soon to be released "Lange Wapper."
Almost 500 breweries from around the world submitted entries for the Best of Craft Beer Awards, which took place in early March.
Lange Wapper won the gold in the Rare and Historical Beer category of the competition.
The beer is an Uitzet style beer that was first discovered more than 10 years ago by Brewery Vivant's Head Brewer, Chris Mitus during his homebrewing days. Vivant first brewed the beer in the summer of 2017 and decided to bring it back again this year.
“I was able to piece together a recipe based on some old brewing literature from the 1700's. Being able to drink a style of beer that hasn't been brewed for hundreds of years gives you a feeling of drinking a bit of history,” said Mitus.
Uitzet is a 19th century farmhouse style ale from The Netherlands and Belgium that has a deep color and a light spiciness from buckwheat and unmalted wheat.
Brewery Vivant co-owner, Jason Spaulding remembers when Mitus first shared his idea for the Uitzet style beer.
“He was excited to brew a beer using similar methods of the farm brewers of the old days” explains Spaulding. “Many times, farm brewers took any leftover grain they did not sell during harvest and made beer with it. Mitus worked hard to source the buckwheat as a main ingredient which is seldom used in brewing today, but really makes this beer distinct”
Spaulding said that he never intended for Lange Wapper to be a competition beer, but when they saw the competition's guidelines, they thought it would be a good fit for the historic beer section.
"The name seemed fitting to tie together with the Belgian countryside folklore,” said Spaulding, “I love this beer because it is left unfiltered and rustic just like it would have been 200 years ago. You can taste the spiciness of the buckwheat and it transports me to another time when I drink it.”
Lange Wapper will be released on tap and in four-packs of 16oz cans starting on April, 21. The beer will be a limited run and can be purchased at Brewery Vivant, Broad Leaf Brewery & Spirits and in select stores.
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