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In Which We Get... Spooktacular!

10/28/2020

Howdy-ho, camperinos! We're rockin' and rollin' with some straight-up straightforward spooktacular good times this week, so read on for the hip haps and fun event(s)!

First on up, we're still goin' on our longest-ever installment* of our most spooktacular of traditions: beer and candy pairings! We went through our entire beer menu and paired everything with some spooktacular sweets and now you can get Halloween candy pairings with your beer all dang week!

And speaking of that most spooktacular of holidays, this weekend marks our second annual Spooktacular Dog Costume Contest! Yes indeedy, we're invitin' you to come on down with all your dressed-up pups so they can strut their spooktacular stuff! Anyway, we'll have a few beers and we'll have a few laughs and we'll get to see a bunch of cute dogs in cute costumes (or - if we're lucky - some ugly dogs in some hideous, incredibly halfassed, slapped-together-on-the-way-over costumes that will win our hearts despite the fact that their entire structural integrity hinges on a single, small, apparently previously used piece of scotch tape) and we'll have some spooktacular prizes and some treats and it definitely won't be too cold but maybe you should bring a sweater anyway (and one for your dog) and you should come on out!

And if you're lookin' for more "hard facts" on "what to expect" during this spooktacular event, keep readin'!

To enter the contest, just dress up your pup and bring them along! We'll take a picture of each dog and add their photo and name to our Instagram story to keep track of everyone during the day, and we'll announce three winners on Sunday 11/1. We'll use contact tracing info or Instagram handles to contact winners!

The beer garden will be operating normally on a FIRST COME FIRST SERVE basis. Looks like no rain on Saturday, but it will be chilly! Please dress appropriately! Children MUST be well-behaved and supervised at all times. Dogs MUST be well-behaved, leashed, and supervised at all times.

We'll be selling our special dog glassware (100% of proceeds to rescues and shelters) for you to take home! Last Chance Animal Rescue was also kind enough to send a huge box of swag, so we'll have goodie bags for all contest participants while supplies last! Pet Wants Newton will also have a table set up with treats available for sampling and purchase.

Multihead IPA will be our featured beer of the day (with part of the proceeds going towards Last Chance Animal Rescue), but we'll have a full list of other awesome things you can enjoy if IPA ain't your thing.

Also! It bears mentioning that as the weather starts to cool down, we'll be makin' some tweaks to our beer garden hours - starting Monday 11/2, we'll be open for beer service and to go sales during the following times:

Monday - Thursday 3-9pm
Friday - Saturday 12-10pm
Sunday 12-8pm

Thank you all for a wonderful summer in the beer garden and for all your support! We'll keep the ol' parking lot party going as long as we can, so stay tuned!

* We usually just do this for Halloweekend, but we figured that y'all might need a bit more spooktacular fun this year, what with all the... everything.

In Which CANDY

10/21/2020

Howdy, friends! We're havin' ourselves a ding-dong-doozy of a time comin' up with some fun stuff to do as "outdoor season" starts to (hopefully very slowly) wind down and we start to see the approach of "hide inside under a pile of blankets" season. But! We're not throwin' in that towel just yet, which means we've! Got! Fun! Stuff!

And first on that ol' docket is CANDY! Yes indeedy, we put the ol' production team through the gustatory wringer and wrote up a menu that pairs each* of our beers with two different Halloween candies (one chocolate, one non-chocolate)! And since we spent all that time laborin' over a pile of candy, we figured we'd share the results of our research, which means that from Friday the 23rd through Sunday the 1st we'll be offerin' up candy with flights and full pours!

With that being said, we don't recommend that you eat 30 pieces of candy in one sitting and then wash it down with six beers (unless you would like to channel the mood in the above picture).

And! Speaking of cool Halloween stuff, we also want to remind you that next weekend, on Halloween itself, we're bringin' back our dog costume contest! We'll give away silly prizes and we'll drink some dog-themed beer and there'll be treats and merriment and probably at least one dog that manages to get its head stuck inside a different dog's costume, without anybody noticing until it's far too late to easily fix.

(Also of note, there may well be another pinball-centric event in the works, but we gotta iron out some details before we can make an Official Announcement on that front).

Oh and also we've got a buncha cool beers in the pipeline that'll be comin' out in the coming weeks, including our upcoming collab with Lesser Glow! As you may have noticed, we're generally fans of the "heavy metal" around here, so when we heard that Lesser Glow wanted a beer to pair with their latest release, we jumped at the chance! Aaaaand then that plan got kinda pushed to the backburner because we started talking about this collaboration in the late winter/early spring and, well, you all remember what happened back then. But anyway! We're back on track (or at least we're on what "on track" looks like these days) and we came up with a rad-as-hell beer to pair with their latest album and it's in the tanks right now! We've still got a couple weeks before it's ready, but we're jazzed to be doin' any sort of collabs again, so we figured we'd give you the "inside scoop" and let you know to keep them eyes peeled!

* We may have skipped the bottle-only barrel-aged stuff, on account of the fact that we were already coming up with 28 beer and candy pairings without including them.

In Which We Are All About Them Neomexicanus Hops!

10/14/2020

Well hello there! It's been a downright eventful week around here what with all the stuff that we've been doing and whathaveyou. Anyway, some of that stuff involved beer in cans and/or pinball and/or old houses and/or dogs and/or a weird fascination with the side-effects of how old-timey politics influence agriculture, so if any of that's in your ol' mental wheelhouse, read on!

Aaaaand startin things swingin' right out the gate, the first run of our canning line was an unrivaled* success! Or at least it was in the sense that there were very few literal fires during the run. Anyway. We're up and runnin' and there's no stopping now so we'll be cannin' up a whole buncha beer as often as we can! If nothing else, this dang line** is gonna have to pay its own ticket around here and - I don't know if you knew this - but canning lines cost at least fifty dollars. Sometimes more.

Anyway, the first beer off the line was a one-off (as is our wont around here), and in this particular case it was a hoppy saison made to feature the new-to-us hop Sabro™! (And, of course, we named the beer Sabrobro). Sabro™ is a pretty intriguing hop to us, for two related reasons: a) the flavor descriptors given by hop growers are completely wild: mint and passionfruit and cedar and coconut are pretty much all over the map flavor-wise, so we felt like we had to see what this hop was all about; and 2) Sabro™ is a hop that has neomexicanus heritage, which we're honestly pretty jazzed about.

Long story short(er), neomexicanus hops are (as far as we know) indigenously American, which is surprisingly uncommon in commercial hop varieties - if you look in to hop lineage for most of the well-known varieties (and, realistically, who among us doesn't read about hop genetics from time to time), there will often be a small percentage of each variety's heritage attributed to "wild American" (which, if we understand correctly, is basically like saying "I dunno, maybe it cross-pollinated with some shit that was growing in the woods," only you're not supposed to say it that way if you're a plant geneticist) but overall they can be traced back to Europe.***

And because of that, the conventional knowledge says that hops can only grow in areas that more-or-less mimic the climate of the hop growing regions in Europe (specifically Czechia, Germany, and England), and around here that means the Pacific Northwest (and also upstate New York, but that's a different story). But then some people (possibly a monastery?) found some hops not only growing but flourishing somewhere out in New Mexico and it turns out that these hops are genetically distinct from the ones we're used to and we're now getting to a point where there are enough neomexicanus hops being grown that event tiny-assed breweries like us get to play around with them and we think that's cool as hell!

Anyway the point is that American hops (especially the wild-grown ones) were kinda looked down on for a few hundred years or so**** but now people are getting in to these crazy hops that have adapted to growing in the damn desert (and/or pretty much anywhere, as far as we can tell) and we're stoked to get to know them!

And while we're on about neomexicanus and crazy hop varieties, we should also mention that this Friday we'll be canning up our new IPA: Multihead! Multihead (the beer) is named for Multihead (the hop variety) which is - you guessed it - another neomexicanus hop! This hop has a much more sane list of flavor descriptors (it's mostly a list of fruits, which is what we're used to), so we felt the need to cram a whole shitload of it into one beer! And as an added bonus, we decided to make this a dog beer!

We're takin' a small turn from our usual M.O. with dog beers - this time around we partnered up with Last Chance Animal Rescue to try and bring some attention to them and their adoptable dogs. Long story short, Last Chance - in addition to trying to find homes for animals in need - has a farm in North Carolina (St. Francis Farm, specifically) that provides a home for animals who might not otherwise be able to find one. Anyway, we featured one of their adoptable dogs (a fun-loving floofy boy named Dexter) on the can for Multihead and we encourage you to check them out because they're doing some great things for some good pups!

Anyway, moving on from hop genetics and/or dog farms, this Friday we're also canning up an old favorite of ours and that's Lazy Pants! Basically, Lazy Pants came about because we wanted to make a light-colored chocolate beer and then at some point we figured that raspberry would be pretty good in there, and it was, so we made it again! And now you can have some!

And. And! Now that we're done with our "Hop Facts You Don't Care About" section of the blog, we're pleased to announce that we have some upcoming events! Remember those? Events?

Anyway, first up is Thursday, Friday and Sunday of this week and that's Pinball With A Breeze! Basically, Pinball Mitch got a bit stir-crazy spending six months flappin' his flippers all by his lonesome, so he convinced us to bring in as many games as we're comfortable with (in this case, three) and set them up as close as we could to Outside without exposing them to the elements and yada yada yada social distancing but anyway we - for one brief, shining weekend (not counting Saturday) - will have pinball back!

Then on Saturday we're gettin' old-school, both in terms of "history" and also in terms of "doing things the way we used to do them back in April" and that obviously means an educational drinking conference call about a historical house! There is a broader context for all of that, but all you really need to know is that this event is more fun than it seems like it should be, and the proceeds go to a good cause (specifically the Wakefield Historical Society) and you should come join us!

Also! As our "farther in the future" event reminder, we gots to let you know that we're doing another dog costume party/contest this year! When we reflected on last year's dog costume party, we realized that it was pretty much "socially distanced" by default***** so we figured we'd go for it again! As always, there won't be any changes to our standard beer garden policies (in terms of time limits on tables, reservations, requiring animals to be well-behaved, etc.), but we'll have a dog-themed beer and a dog-themed pop-up and some stupid prizes and also some candy and it'll be a good time!

And speaking of candy, we're doin' our beer and Halloween candy pairings again this year! For those of you not "in the know," we figure out candy pairings for every beer on our menu (and, just to be clear, this is all field-tested. In one sitting. Each person in production consumes an amount of candy that can only be described as "upsetting." Oh, the things we do for our craft), and for the 23rd through the 31st, flights and full pours will come with candy!

And as a final note, amongst all the talk of cans and canning lines and us definitely not encouraging you to drink while you're out walkin' around even though a koozie pretty much covers the whole can label if you were to do so, it behooves us forsooth to notify you posthase as to the wherewithal of our esteemed Beer Garden. In short, we're coming to the end of the magical three-week period where we actually have Fall Weather around here and we're gonna start encountering more and more conditions that we can't fix with heat lamps.

We're gonna hold out with our outdoor seating for as long as we can (odds are you're gonna need a beer or six on election day, no matter what happens), but we (including our staff) don't really feel safe having people congregate indoors (and yes, we've thought about putting up a big tent or something outside, but that just takes all the problems of being inside and moves them to a place that is - by definition - worse), so we're slowly getting used to the idea that things around here are gonna start looking pretty similar to the way they did six months ago (i.e. to-go only, deliveries, et cetera), hence the slow reintroduction of virtual events.

We don't know for certain how things will play out (we get the same news that you do. And honestly, we were kinda expecting another lockdown), but we figure it ain't hurt to lay the groundwork. It's gonna be a long winter, so get all the Fall Time in that you can, while you can. Cheers or whatever.

* "Unrivaled" means "modest," right?
** Our canning line is, tentatively, named Phyllis.
*** To the best of my knowledge, hop plants in general started somewhere in Asia and then spread to Europe where they really flourished, and nowadays there aren't a whole lot of hops coming out of Asia (at least not on the export market, with the exception of a couple Japanese varieties). But also that might be wrong?
**** You mean to tell me that British colonists might look down on things that weren't native to England? That can't be right.
***** With the exception of the children running around, which was an unexpected twist last year that we now know to watch for.`

In Which We Sneak in a Modest Lil' Expansion

10/7/2020

Howdy, friends! We've got some big, fun news to share this week, which - you guessed it - means we're gonna start by talking about a whole bunch of other unrelated stuff at length before we get to the "hot goss."

Ah, to hell with it. We! Have! A! Canning! Line! It's gonna mean a lot of Learning Experiences™ for the ol' production staff, which generally manifests in the form of a whole lotta noodle scratchin' and tweakin' settings and honestly a lot more shouting at inanimate objects than you'd really expect (and, if you know us, you probably already expect a considerable amount). Anyway, we're hoping that this will be (or at least appear) pretty seamless for all y'all, but there's bound to be a hiccup or ten and some weird side-effects, but the point is that we're super stoked that we're in control of our own destiny or whatever! And just to "clear the air" on some questions y'all might have, here's some Q&A!

I thought you were already canning?
We were! We are! When we started canning, we signed on with a mobile canning company called State 64, which is run by a group of downright great people. And mobile canners, for those of you not "in the know" basically just roll up to our digs with their own canning line (and cans, and trays, and - in the case of State 64 - a kitchen sink that's supported by milk crates) and hook up some hoses to our tanks and can our beer for us and go about their merry way. We thoroughly enjoyed working with State 64, but at some point over the summer we decided it was Time To Move On, and we started the oddly-arduous process of ordering a piece of equipment.

What made you switch from State 64?
Honestly? 90% of it was scheduling. They're busy folks (unsurprisingly, a lot of breweries leaned pretty hard into canning once that whole pandemic hit) and we can only schedule them for two days per month, which can do a pretty mean number on our production schedule. Plus, State 64 is doing a pretty big service to the industry by making canning accessible to hella small breweries (like us), and if we can free up some of their schedule then that makes way for somebody else to be able to get their beer on shelves.

You mentioned "weird side-effects." What would those be?
The most obvious side-effect is actually tangentially/confusingly related to the pandemic (and maybe the ongoing trade war with China and/or the tariffs on imported metals? Unclear) and anyway the point is that we'll be temporarily switching to plastic four-pack holders. Long story short, cans are super hard to get right now* and our current can supplier (one of the few suppliers who is willing/able to supply us) only sells cans as a "package deal" sort of thing (cans, lids, trays, pakteks), which means our hands are tied for a bit. But never fear! We're gonna keep the ol' "ear to the ground" and figure out a way to get back to the old cardboard/environmentally friendly carriers that we all know and tolerate.

Anything else we should know?
Probably! Most importantly, this also means that we're no longer tied to our previous twice-per-month can release schedule, which means we're able to release new cans all the time! We won't, but it's exciting to know that we could.

Oh! And! Lastly! We've mentioned a time or two that we're hiring, and we figure it bears mentioning that we're formally/officially/finally closing applications this Friday! We assume anyone who wants to apply has already done so, but this here's last call for your last chance! Apply here.

* This is probably more "inside baseball" than most of you really care about, but the main reason (that we've heard, anyway) is that since all 7,000 breweries in the country had to abruptly switch to "to-go only" for their service model, that created a huge spike in demand for cans, without much surplus production capability. On top of that, canned beverages are becoming more popular in other market segments (or whatever the Business Guy term is) like coffee and kombucha and those weird beer/fruit puree blends that explode and hurt people if you let them warm up, not to mention the increase in popularity of hard seltzer (which is big enough that it's attracted the attention of several Global Megacorps, and which is also served almost exclusively in cans), which - coupled with the increase in cost of imported aluminum - adds up to can shortages, particularly for people who aren't buying them by the literal truckload (which would be us).

In Which We Get... Spooktacular!

In Which CANDY

In Which We Are All About Them Neomexicanus Hops!

In Which We Sneak in a Modest Lil' Expansion

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