Champagne Velvet, The Beer with the Million Dollar Flavor, returns again… this time in cans!
Champagne Velvet is a German-inspired lager that was the flagship of the Terre Haute Brewing Company during its heyday, from the turn of the 20th century until the late 1950s. If you were living in Indiana during this time, it was the beer you and your friends would raise to celebrate the end of the work week, that you’d take with you on a weekend fishing trip, and that you’d serve at holiday get-togethers. Champagne Velvet defined beer in Indiana for over fifty years before the Terre Haute Brewing Company fell victim to the rampant practice of consolidation that characterized the brewing industry in the latter half of the 20th century. CV lost its home and identity, and eventually fell out of production altogether.
Upland purchased the rights to CV in 2013 to again revive the heralded brand. Brewers whipped up four pilot batches, mimicking the circa-1900 German-inspired taste as closely as possible by blending corn, malted barley, and both Cluster and Tettnang hops (the latter named for the region of Germany from which CV’s forefathers emigrated).
We’re proud to be brewing a piece of Indiana’s history and hope you join us in celebrating it’s continued legacy. Cheers!
Beer Description: Champagne Velvet is a Classic American Pilsner, reminiscent of what local beer tasted like before prohibition. The balance of corn and malted barley provides a golden straw color and subtle sweetness, reminding the drinker of a time when corn would be used to provide flavor and stability to beer. Cluster hops, the oldest variety grown in the United States, were used for bittering, and a late kettle addition of German Tettnang provides noble hop flavor and aroma. Grown in the southwest region of Germany where Anton Mayer was born before immigrating to the United States and taking over the Terre Haute Brewing Company, our choice of Tettnang hops are both a tribute to the man who would make Champagne Velvet’s original popularity possible while also adding a historically authentic ingredient to our recipe.
