The Beer Nut: Scaling Grand Teton to manageable portions

Customers are attracted to Grand Teton's 1-liter swing-top bottles. They stand out on the shelves because of their size and shiny, eye-catching labels.

People will grab them off the shelf and maybe read the labels, but those same bottles may also be the biggest deterrent to people taking a chance on these excellent beers: Each beer costs $14.99, more than many people are willing to spend on a brand they may never have heard of.

Rob Mullin, head brewer and chief operating officer of the Idaho brewery, said the Grand Teton Brewing Company will soon be making its beers in smaller, more affordable 750 ml bottles.

"We really liked the swing-top bottles because they were unique, but we finally made the decision to switch," Mullin said.

The reason is the cost -- the 1-liter bottle alone costs the brewery $2 to $2.50 each, which does not include the shipping cost from Germany. The final cost is about $5 a bottle.

The new 750 ml bottles of beer should cost about $9.99, which is "around the $10 magic point that people seem to worry about for beer," Mullin said.

Although new to Massachusetts (it just started distributing here last month), Grand Teton was founded in 1988 as the Otto Brothers Brewing Company in Wilson, Wyo. Charlie Otto was the brewer/operator, while his brother Ernie provided cash for the business.

Originally, Otto Brothers was a draft-only brewery. Charlie Otto wanted to start selling growlers, or 64-ounce jugs of his beer, but at that time it was illegal to sell such containers in the United States, and he petitioned the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which controlled beer packaging in the late '80s and early '90s, to change the law.

"He was the first person to package beer in the refillable bottles," said Mullin. "Now, every brewpub in the country does growler fills."

The brewery continued to grow, and it changed its name to Grand Teton. It also was the first craft brewery in the country to have beer available at a national park. Old Faithful Ale is sold at Yellowstone National Park, and outsells Budweiser there.

In March of last year Charlie Otto sold the brewery to Steven and Ellen Furbacher, a retired couple from Texas, who invested heavily in the business, particularly in marketing and quality control.

Because it is in a vacation area, Mullin said that gives it the opportunity to brew beers it couldn't if it was at full capacity year-round.

"It allows us to do beers that take a long time, so we get to brew some lagers and wild stuff because we can leave them in the tanks for awhile," he said.

So far, Massachusetts has only received a few of Grand Teton's beers, but will get more as the year goes forward.

The first is Sheep Eater Scotch Ale, a 7.5 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) ale. The beer, Mullin said, was designed to show off the barley grown in the region.

"Idaho is the best place to grow malting barley," he said. "The Sheep Eater focused on the malt. We really wanted to show people the different things you can do with malts."

The beer uses smoked malt to give the beer a slight smokey taste, and there are almost no hops at all in it, Mullin said.

"The result is it's a fantastic beer," he said. "It's great for food -- it goes great with game meat."

Also available is the Pursuit of Hoppiness American Red Ale, an 8 percent ABV beer.

The beer has many of the characteristics of a double India pale ale, but has more of a caramel malt taste that comes from being a red ale.

This beer was the brainchild of brewer Marks Lanham, who loves hoppy beers.

"As a brewer, I focused on malts, and Marks has really educated me on West Coast hops," said Mullin. "I love the fruity flavors you get from the hops."

Although currently available only in larger bottles, later this year Pursuit of Hoppiness will become a year-round offering in four-packs of 12-ounce bottles.

The Howling Wolf Weizenbock is a German-style wheat bock, or strong lager. It has the traditional German-yeast taste (with slight banana and clove notes).

The Double Vision Doppelbock is a traditional German-style doppelbock with roasted malt flavors.

"It's all about the malts with this beer," Mullin said.

Also currently available is the Black Cauldron Imperial Stout, on draft and in four-packs.

Soon expected to hit Massachusetts will be the Lost Continent Double IPA, as well as a draft-only, oak-aged version of the beer.

The next big beer to hit shelves will be the Tail Waggin' Double White, an imperial version of a Belgian-style witbier.

"It's incredible complex but balanced and drinkable," Mullin said.

Norman Miller is a Daily News staff writer. For questions, comments, suggestions or recommendations, e-mail nmiller@cnc.com or call 508-626-3823. Check out The Beer Nut blog at http://blogs.townonline.com/beernut/.