Name: Paper from the Wood
Brand: Corporate Ladder Brewing Company
Availability: InStock

Oak spirals are the short version of barrel aging. A length of kiln-toasted oak is cut into a spiral so that more of its surface meets the beer, then dropped straight into the tank. Wood character arrives in weeks rather than months, and none of a barrel's leftover spirit or wine flavor comes along with it. Corporate Ladder Brewing Company has run its Paperweight Pilsner over medium toasted spirals and returned the result to the taproom as Paper from the Wood.

The oak-aged version holds the base beer's 5.5 percent ABV. According to the brewery, the wood pulled more citrus out of the Hallertau Blanc and Motueka already in the recipe, and it added a touch of tannin for a crisp, slightly drier finish. Corporate Ladder's own shorthand for the beer is citrus, oak and a crisp dry finish.

That hop pairing is worth pausing on. Hallertau Blanc is a German aroma hop released in 2012, a daughter of Cascade, and it takes its name from Sauvignon Blanc because of the gooseberry and white-grape notes it carries. Motueka comes from New Zealand and was bred from a Saaz cross, so a noble-hop backbone sits underneath its bright lemon and lime. Both hops already lean toward citrus and wine. Adding oak tannin on top pushes the beer further along that same line, which is not where most pilsners are headed.

The name does a fair amount of work on its own. Paper is made from wood, so a pilsner called Paperweight going back onto oak more or less names itself. The can carries the joke the rest of the way. A vintage strongman hoists a barbell overhead while standing on a thick stack of paper, loose sheets scattering around him, and the small print under the name reads "Neo American Pilsner aged on oak spirals."

Paper from the Wood is pouring on draft at the Palmetto taproom now and is available in 16 ounce four-packs to go, with online ordering for pickup.

Editor’s Take

The chain of reasoning here is immaculate. You start with a pilsner called Paperweight. Paper comes from wood. Therefore the oak-aged version is Paper from the Wood, and the can shows a vintage strongman hoisting a barbell overhead while standing on a stack of office paper. Breweries have spent weeks on a name and landed somewhere a good deal less satisfying than that.

What I keep circling back to, though, is the tannin. Tannin is a wine word. It is the term you reach for to explain the thing that dries your mouth out after something red and serious. Corporate Ladder has now put it, deliberately, into a pale golden lager already hopped with a German variety named after Sauvignon Blanc and a New Zealander that tastes of limes. Somewhere in Palmetto, Florida, a pilsner is quietly filling out a sommelier application. I hope it gets the job.

Source & Editorial

JollyPint independently prepares release articles using information published by breweries through newsletters, websites, and other official public communications. Brewery-supplied descriptions and tasting notes are reported as provided, while editorial context is added by JollyPint.

Oak Spirals Turn Paperweight Pilsner Into Paper from the Wood

Corporate Ladder ran its Paperweight Pilsner over medium toasted oak spirals and brought it back as Paper from the Wood. The brewery says the wood pulled more citrus from the Hallertau Blanc and Motueka, and added tannin.

Source & Editorial