For years and again today, Old Style Beer has used the word krausened or krausening in their ads and on their labels. The fact is, this is an age old term used in the brewing process and most people have never known what it actually means. Many of today's beers are krausened, the breweries just don't advertise it like Old Style has, because they don't believe it is a viable selling point to the average consumer. Krausening is the process originally used by German brewers to naturally carbonate their beers. This process is usually used on lager beers because the yeast can go dormant during the very cold and much longer ageing procedure. A small amount of freshly brewed beer (hence fresh yeast) are added to the fully aged beer that causes a natural build-up of carbon dioxide (carbonation) and helps scrub the beer of not so friendly flavors like diacetyl (buttery) and acetaldehyde (green apple) left by the old yeast. This gives the beer a clean crisp flavor and appearance that is expected by the lager loving public. Krausening can also add shelf life and a form of the process is often used by micro brewers to produce bottle conditioned beers that also require secondary fermentation. Genesse Beer and Cream Ale are two brands carried by G&M that are krausened. We now have them in a retro bottle/label variety pack called the Heritage Pack. Give them a try, they taste great!
