We’ve always worked to source local ingredients when possible, and a while back we had this crazy idea. What if we made a beer that featured local ingredients from all of the states that we sell our beer in? Challenge accepted! So we started making some lists, and jotting down ideas. We started Googling the agricultural sites for all of these states, and finally, we comprised a list of regional options and some potential recipes.

This was no simple task; our distributor footprint (which looks something like this)
has a lot of states that grow a lot of grain. But our skillful brewers kept at it, and eventually they drafted their crafty plan. We would brew several small batches on our five barrel Pilot Brewing System, and we’d use the various ingredients sourced from each state. We’d invite our friends to come brew with us, and then we’d blend all the various brews together with one larger brew. IT would be collaboratively delicious! (READ MORE)

We love beer, but we love sharing our beer even more. So much, in fact, that we have eight different ways to package it and bring it to your face. I’ll let you count them off on your own time. Undoubtedly, the most labor intensive of those eight are our 750mL bottle conditioned beers, which come in the champagne and Belgian style bottles. The carbonation found in these beers comes from a specific mix of yeast and sugar that we add directly to the beer right before packaging on a unique 750 line. Which means each and every 750 bottle becomes a tiny fermentation vessel. After some maturation at the brewery, they are ready to leave the nest and explore the wonders of the modern world. Some will go off to college and become increasingly cynical of the world around them. Others still, might meet the bottle of their dreams and start a little glass family. However, most will have their heads unceremoniously popped off and their tasty innards ingested by someone just like you. You sicken me. Cheers! (- A Quality Guy)

New beers on tap this week in the Tap Room:

Cruise Control Dark Lager 5.8% abv

Brewed with Pilsner, Munich, and Crystal malts and Willamette, Fuggles, Tettnang, and Mt Hood hops, don’t let the color fool ya. A drinkable dark lager that is light in body with Munich and Crystal characteristics, as well as an experimental dark malt for color that yields little to no roast or harsh bitterness.

Alpha Doug IPA 6.5% abv

Brewed with the sole purpose of offering our friends the most bitter beer we have ever produced. The beer is calculated to have 125 IBU’s (but it doesn’t really taste that high). Grab a mirror before drinking so you can admire your bitter beer face after a few swigs. Oh, this beer also has some pleasant hop flavor and aroma characteristics from an unrepeatable combination of Centennial, Palisade, Glacier, Bravo, Willamette, Perle, Cascade, and Goldings hops added numerous times.

T.A.P. Strong Pale Ale 6% abv

An in-house collaboration between Brendan McGivney and Joe Mohrfeld… the first and only time these two have actually been able to put on their boots and pilot brew together… and they think it turned out pretty well. The acronomic name says it all, but for those who still wonder what T.A.P. really is, think strong pale ale with a lot… we mean A LOT… of hops!

The Deal Breaker 6.9% abv

Golden in color, a subtle bitterness, and a nice, crisp hop finish. For those that shy from the predisposed notion of “‘heavy” craft beer, this is the anomaly – our attempt to convert seasoned light beer drinkers into craft beer fanatics. This is the “Deal Breaker.”

Sabby (Saboteur) was given the heave-ho on the 14th, which is quite exciting. We have been enjoying Sabby for a while internally now, and after much deliberation (read: tasting), have decided it finally meets the high standards our friends and families expect. For the uninitiated, Saboteur, is a barrel aged, brown ale, that has been purposefully exposed to a unique strain of a wild yeast known as Brettanomyces, or British Fungus. Brewers and enologists have known about Brettanomyces for ages, but the American craft brewing industry has really been smitten in the last decade or so with the Brett Bug. We have cultivated an in-house strain that cannot be found elsewhere, and through due diligence, brought it forward with our barrel aging program. I like to think of Brett as that one slightly “off” uncle everyone has. The family is divided on how to act around him. He means well, and in between his incoherent ramblings can squeeze out a real gem of wisdom. Sometimes it takes a while to warm up to his charms, but once you’ve had a few rounds of egg nog, Uncle Brett starts to make way too much sense. Sabby is the same way…when you invite him to the table, you know it’s going to be an interesting evening. Enjoy!

- Eli, “A Quality Guy”