The PR industry loves nothing more than a good survey to try and give a story a great chance of making the mainstream media. And the mainstream media usually laps it up, taking survey findings that normally fall within the ‘duh’ category and making it sound of earth shattering importance.

In the beer world, these surveys are normally the province of generic lagers that need the non-relevant kick along that a choice survey can provide. The irrelevant survey is usually marked by a mention in the headline but no mention in the body, and certainly no supporting information about survey techniques or sample size. This one certainly checks those boxes.

The surprise in this case is that the survey is being used to spruik a new collaboration beer between Sam Adams, the United States’ largest craft brewery, and Weihenstephan, billed as the world’s oldest brewery. You’d think a beer like this wouldn’t need to resort to hyperbole and PR stunts, although with neither brewery a household name in the mainstream market a few gimmicks can help get it out there.

The new collaboration is a “champagne-like” beer and is being touted as a “new standard in the art of brewing”. While further information is currently scarce, the beer sounds similar to established beers such as Bosteels Brewery’s Deus and Eisenbahn’s Lust.

PR gimmicks aside, with a pedigree such as this the beer will no doubt be the highest quality and be very interesting.

Anyway, the release reads:

Over 60 percent of men would opt to toast with beer versus champagne, if given the choice. Thanks to Infinium™, a crisp, new champagne-like beer that sets a new standard in brewing, men now have the ultimate drink with which to celebrate this holiday season. Debuting in early December, the premiere sparkling brew is the culmination of a two-year collaboration between Jim Koch, brewer and founder of Samuel Adams beers, and Dr. Josef Schradler, managing director of Germany’s Weihenstephan Brewery. The first new beer style created under the Reinheitsgebot in over a hundred years, Infinium unites 1,000 years of combined brewing knowledge and innovation between the two breweries.

Available for a limited time only, this innovative new beer style adheres to the rigorous standards of the Reinheitsgebot, the historic German beer purity law that states all beer must be brewed using only four ingredients: malt, hops, water and yeast. Infinium pours out a deep golden color with fine bubbles and has a fruity, elegant aroma. Its crisp acidity gives it a dryness and tartness on the palate that is balanced with a smooth malt body. Infinium is packaged in 750mL cork-finished bottles and contains 10.3 percent alcohol by volume, twice the amount of an average beer.

This crisp, vivacious brew is certain to make a palate-pleasing gift for food and beer connoisseurs and as a recent survey found, men are eager to celebrate with beer throughout the holiday season. Infinium‘s light, sparkling character is a welcome complement to all festivities, allowing drinkers to enjoy the best of both worlds.

“Dr. Schradler and I are thrilled to uncork Infinium, and introduce not only a first-class beer, but a new standard in the art of brewing,” said Jim Koch, Samuel Adams founder and brewer.

“When I brewed the first batch of Samuel Adams Boston Lager in my kitchen in 1984, it challenged America’s perception of what beer could be. At the time, beer drinkers weren’t used to bigger, more flavorful brews that used high-quality, traditional ingredients and followed the age-old Reinheitsgebot purity law. Infinium continues to challenge people’s perception of beer in a very different way, making this partnership unique. I’ve had the opportunity to work with some of the most talented brewers in the world during this project, and we’re all excited to finally share Infinium with drinkers this holiday season.”

Both breweries share great passion for the art and science of brewing, and pride themselves on using only the highest quality ingredients to produce award-winning, world-class beers. Weihenstephan was founded by Benedictine monks in 1040, and is the guardian of the original Reinheitsgebot law. Every batch of Weihenstephan’s beer is evaluated by a panel of experts for color, aroma, froth consistency and flavor.

“It was exciting to work with Jim and the brewers at Samuel Adams to stretch the limits of Reinheitsgebot during the creation of Infinium,” says Dr. Josef Schradler.

“This beer is truly a marriage of the German brewing heritage that our brewery has upheld for almost a thousand years, combined with new, innovative brewing techniques that take beer beyond what anyone expected to be possible under the constraints of the purity law.”

Not only is Weihenstephan the oldest brewery in the world, it has upheld a tradition of being a center for research about brewing and brewing technology for hundreds of years. The Weihenstephan Science Center of the Technical University of Munich is one of the highest regarded brewing schools in the world, and was instrumental in the development and creation of Infinium with the Weihenstephan and Samuel Adams brewers.

The collaboration will be available in Australia being brought in by Phoenix Beers, official importer of Weihenstephan and will be available through International Beer Shop and other select outlets.

www.phoenixbeers.com.au