McAlester's BierKraft wins top honors in European brewery competition

Sep. 30—When William "Scotty" Scott and his partners started BierKraft back in December 2020, he said they wanted to bring a bit of Germany to McAlester.

They did so, creating the small BierKraft brewery, beer hall and beer garden at Tenth Street and Washington Avenue.

Now, Scott has taken a bit of McAlester back to Germany, with a BierKraft beer brewed at the McAlester brewery taking home a top award during an international brewer's competition at the European Beer Star Award Ceremony.

With a total of 2,168 beers from 40 countries entered in the competition, McAlester's BierKraft brewery won the Gold Medal in the Altbier category at the awards ceremony held Sept. 14 in Munich, Germany.

"We entered and won with an Altbier," Scott said. He traveled to Europe to attend the European Beer Star Awards Ceremony and to accept the award in-person.

"Winning a god medal at the European Beer Star not only earns prestige in the international brewing industry. The award also confirms the caliber of work that our team does every day," Scott said. He and B.J. Howell are the brewmasters at BierKraft.

"Our Altbier was evaluated by an international jury of experts and topped numerous others, included those brewed by the iconic Dusseldorf breweries," said Scott. "The Gold Medal award shows that our beer can successfully compete with the world's best."

The competition included plenty of judges, with about 140 international tasters, which included other brewmasters, trade journalists and other experts, judging the submitted beers on Aug, 4-5. Judges selected the three best beers in each category to win the gold, silver and bronze awards at the European Beer Star international competition.

The term Altbier, refers to a type of brewing," Scott said. It's a mid-19th century beer dating back to 1842.

How did BierKraft go about entering the competition?

"We had to ship samples to the American Brewers Association, which has an export program," Scott said. "We sent two beers." The American Brewers Association then takes up the entry process, said Scott.

He describes the award-winning Altbier as follows:

"It's a dark and amber-hued, malty and balanced, with a firm bitterness in the finish," Scott said.

Many of the ingredients are imported from Germany.

"We use German malts and Gemeran hops," said Scott. "Only the water comes from Oklahoma. Local water is pretty good for brewing; sometimes we add mineral salts."

Scott said the type of beer that won originally started in Duesseldorf, Germany.

"That's where they make altbier," he said.

So does BierKraft have a big batch of the award-winning Altbier brewed up and ready for sampling by curious customers wanting to try it for themselves? Alas, Scott said there will likely be a waiting period.

"It's a seasonal brew," said Scott. The rest of this year's remaining supply has already been drank up in a celebratory fashion.

As for those anxious to sample the award-winning beer, "They will have to wait until the next time we brew it," Scott said. As of now, that will likely be in the spring, 2023.

Why not redo the schedule and brew some of the award-winning beer early?

Perhaps it's better for it to remain a rare thing, said Scott.

Now that BierKraft is an international award winner, is an expansion in the works?

"Not right now," Scott said. "Things are going well. This way the beer's always fresh." The beer at BierKraft is ordinarily served draft-style. Scott said he can detect changes "once you out it in a bottle."

Scott noted BierKraft began with the idea of bringing a bit of Europe to the McAlester area.

"One of the reasons we started was we wanted to give people the opportunity to experience traditional European beer styles," Scott said.

BierKraft also entered the international competition in 2021.

"Last year I sent an altbier," Scott said. "I knew it was a little thicker than it needed to be." Scott made some adjustments he figured were needed and entered again this year— with the resulting first-place win.

He said he and fellow BierKraft brewer B.J. Howell were thrilled with the results.

"I was elated," Scott said. "I told the German newspaper it was a great honor to be considered in the same caliber as the other beers."

Scott spent 10 days on his overseas trek before returning to McAlester.

Does he think he will try to adjust the recipe for the award-winning beer even further?

No, the recipe is perfected, he feels. "No further changes," said Scott.

Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.