Beer Sessions Radio™ host Jimmy Cabone recently traveled to Oxford, CT, for a personal tour of B. United’s latest venture: a brewery called OEC (Ordinem Ecentrici Coctores). Joined by Jon Lundbom, B.United mastermind Matthias Neidhart, and OEC’s brewmaster Ben Neidhart, the Beer Sessions team samples some of the brewery’s best offerings, plus discusses the nearly-inevitable evolution of B. United from pure importer into craft brewery.
From importer to finisher to brewer, B. United has established itself as one of the country’s renowned beer curators. Among our favorite breweries they work with are Hitachino (we were there when the tanker pulled up; yes, we did sample from it!) and Swiss Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM), but B. United decided to launch their own brand about three months ago. They built an authentic copper coolship (making them one of a handful of breweries in the country with a coolship) and they are growing many of the ingredients they use in the beer for optimal freshness. As Matthias notes, “The best way to bring in the highest quality beers is to have complete control of our conditioning.” Many of their spices, for example, are added to the beer within 20 minutes of harvest.
Hear all about the new venture on this week’s (pre-taped) Episode #220.