Let's Get Funky!

Alrightyroo cats and kittens, we got a whole heap o' excitin' new stuff goin' on in the immediate and slightly-less-immediate-but-still-pretty-near future, so buckle up!

First up is our trusty Thursday cask and this time around it's that tasty lil' pale ale that's been a favorite on both sides of the bar (and which handily features a hop that we think deserves more love): Crystal! And since we like to "spice things up" around these here parts, we added in a whole bunch of Centennial! Party!

And speaking of tasty things that are coming out on Thursday, we've got some news* that is, frankly, pretty much pee-your-pants exciting to us and that's the first releases of Critters! ​

Long story short, we've had a hankerin' (possibly several hankerin's) to do some wild/mixed fermentation beers but it was pretty much completely out of our reach until we had more space but then we got more space and now - months and months after we filled up our Funk Barrels and sealed 'em up for a long slumber party - we've got some beers to share with you! Three of them! Some details:

CRITTERS 1 - Grisette with Brettanomyces and strawberry
ABV: 5.2%
Barrel: Wheat Whiskey
Tasting notes: dry as heck with a pinch of funkiness and a smidge of tartness and a subtle-but-noticeable note of ripe strawberry. 
Pair with: something simple and summery, maybe caprese salad or (dare we say it) strawberry shortcake. ​

CRITTERS 2 - Wild red ale aged in rye barrels with Brettanomyces
ABV: 6.5%
Barrel: Rye
Tasting notes: lightly malty-sweet with a solid whack of bright acidity, tempered by an undercurrent of oaky vanilla
Pair with: fatty meats like short rib work well, as do most preparations of potato.

CRITTERS 3 - Grisette with Brettanomyces, blackberry, and peach 
ABV: 5.2%
Barrel: Rye
Tasting notes: dry and tart with some fruit flavors fighting for first place with funkiness from the Brett
Pair with: stinky cheese (taleggio is our favorite but feel free to go nuts on this one).  ​

All three of these beers will be available starting on Thursday (tomorrow) and lasting until they run out, but they're not all gettin' tapped on Thursday (if you're the "try before you buy" type) - we'll be tappin' them back-to-back-to-back, so when one kicks we'll just throw the next one on until we run out of that, and so on. It's not ideal for a triple release, but that's the way we gotta play it for now (mostly for boring logistical reasons). 

And lastly but not leastly on the Critters front, it behooves us to add a bit of a disclaimer. Since this is - at the moment, anyway - an experimental "pilot" program, that means we ain't got much of each beer. And since we're already hella small batch, we completely mean it when we say we ain't got much. We're not tryin' to get all "scarcity marketing" on you or anything, we just figured you'd wanna know.

Anyway, moving on and moving forward, this Saturday we're gonna have brats from Brato! Thassright, our friends from Brato are swingin' through and doin' what they do best: sausage times!

And, as promised, we got us some "juicy details" on a little somethin' that's a bit farther away than this coming weekend, and that's our birthday party! ​

See, in just one short month we're gonna be gearin' up to get down and celebrate the three year anniversary of our taproom opening and we're pullin' out all the stops we can to make sure it's a good time for all y'all! Anyway, there's a lot goin' on, so we'll do it up in easy-to-read bullet point form:

• Remember how we had four bands last year? This year we've got seven! The Weisstronauts will be returning for their third year, plus we'll be bringin' back Sunken City and DnA's Evolution and Blood Built Empire from last year, and we're adding Organ Meats and Benthic Realm and Shadows Bleed Red!
• And to go with those seven bands gracing our tiny makeshift "stage," we're brewing a special beer for each dang ol' band! And since we don't really have a way to set all this aside for a septuple release on the Big Day, we'll be releasing these beers over the course of the month, so keep them eyes peeled!

• Speaking of keeping up traditions, there's gonna be more special anniversary swag! We ordered new mugs (and there's only 150 of them, so get 'em while you can) and new shirts and we're gonna have Heads Up Screenprinting in here doing some on-demand printing! 

• For food, we've got Brato rollin' up with some straight-up Fred Flintstone action in the form of tomahawk steaks! And then when they run out of either time or meat, Liz and Jared will be grabbin' the grill and doin' up dollar hot dogs and (probably) dollar burgers! 
• If you're lookin' to add some heat to all that meat, we're bringin' back another third-timer to this lil' shindig: Alex's Ugly Sauce! 
• And for those of you who have a bit more of a sweet tooth, we're gonna have macarons and grilled banana splits!

Oh! And! If you're extra special good, we just may dig through our pile o' goodies and tap some blast-from-the-past Secret Beers!

So in other words, there's gonna be hella fun stuff goin' on and you should come hang out and celebrate with us!

* Well, it really only counts as "news" if you didn't read the blog last week. And if you don't get our newsletter. Or check any of our social media. Or talk to anybody that works here.