SIDNEY — Sidney Mayor Mike Barhorst and Shelby County Commissioner Bob Guillozet traveled to Moeller Brew Barn Friday morning to witness the bottling of the water for the Guinness World Record Attempt. They also met with Brewmaster Nick Moeller to discuss the possibility of him brewing a special beer with which to celebrate Sidney’s bicentennial in 2020.
Barhorst and Guillozet have co-chaired Shelby County’s Bicentennial Committee. They will co-chair the committee planning Sidney’s celebration as well.
After talking about the tremendous success of Shelby 1819 Limited, the beer Moeller brewed to celebrate Shelby County’s bicentennial, the trio turned their attention to the options for a beer brewed especially for Sidney. Although more than a dozen different ales, stouts, porters and bocks were discussed, the conversation kept returning to the success of the lager brewed for Shelby County’s bicentennial.
“A number of people have suggested that we simply change the design of the label,” Guillozet told Moeller, “and simply continue to use the same recipe. I’ve only found one person who didn’t like the beer, and he likes dark beers!”
“Historically, Sidney’s Wagner brewery produced two different beers,” Barhorst told Moeller. “I believe that both were lagers.”
“One was marketed as Golden Pilsner Lager and the other as Pale American Export,” Barhorst said. “Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to find a member of the Wagner family who has the recipes for either of those products. ”
The ‘export’ terminology caught Moeller’s attention. “Just as ‘pilsners’ originated Plzeň, a city located in the Czech Republic, ‘exports’ originated in Dortmund, Germany,” Moeller said.
“Exports were the indigenous pale lagerbiers produced in Dortmund,” Moeller said. “They tend to use a bit more German noble hops to help balance the bigger maltiness and higher alcohol content than the Pilsen lagers.”
Shelby County Commissioner Tony Bornhorst, who chaired the county’s Bicentennial Beer Subcommittee, will chair the city’s effort as well.
“We’ll be announcing the naming contest shortly,” Bornhorst said. “In addition to providing the opportunity for people to fill out paper entries, we will allow online contest entries as well.”
“The reception of Shelby 1819 Limited has been extraordinary,” Barhorst said. “People continue to ask when and where they can buy it. There are some people I know who still have not tasted it because they’ve not been able to find it. “
“Lagers are the most popular kinds of beer in the world,” Guillozet said. “While we certainly considered the possibility of having Nick brew an IPA for Sidney’s bicentennial celebration, we agreed that historically, producing a version of a Pale American Export made sense.”
