This Sunday (6/2) at noon we’ll release Snip Snap, our 8.5% Citra-Galaxy DIPA, in 16 oz cans! We’ll be following the same approach as the Cloud Palace release. At the door we’ll check IDs and hand you one or two tickets (each ticket guarantees you a 4-pack). You are welcome to either stay in line to buy your cans immediately ($20/4-pack), or peel off and grab a pour at the bar.
With Cloud Palace, the line was through by about 1:30 PM and we had just enough cans to make it through the day… that said, Snip Snap has a bit more excitement behind it considering a 7 bbl yield the last batch on draft lasted less than three days. We’ll have 12 bbls on draft (starting this Friday) plus ~850 4-packs.
We were really happy with the way our first can run went, but we were glad we saved Snip Snap for the second release to work through a few kinks. This batch required less “encouragement” to finish fermentation at the target ABV/sweetness, and carbonation is slightly higher.
We’re also excited that our new walk-in cooler is ready in time for the cans to arrive. For Cloud Palace we formed a case-brigade to move the cans off of the pallets and into stacks in our small cooler. This time we’ll be able just to wheel them in! The cooler will also allow us to store more kegs, facilitating an on-site production expansion later this year!
In the tasting room we’re also selling prints from the label’s artist (Dustin Sinner). We’ve even got the original paintings on display and available for purchase!
Other New Beers
We’ve tapped several new beers recently that we’re really excited about.
Meltdown Mango is the second in our atomic-age series of fruited and dry-hopped sours. We wanted to make it super-refreshing, so we mellowed the acidity compared to Atomic Apricot. While we loved the firm sourness on that one, it made it more of a sipping beer. We also backed-down on the fruit, from 2 to 1.5 lbs/gallon to allow the hops (Simcoe and Amarillo) to shine through. Hopefully making something that can rightly be called a sour IPA.
Cedar Hops is Cheater Hops #7 infused with Spanish Cedar spirals. This wood traditionally used for cigar humidors provides a strong grapefruit aroma. I actually think it has more citrus punch than the actual grapefruit zest we added to Grapefruit Cryovolcano. It also has a fun more traditionally “cedary” flavor in the finish, like incense-shop sandalwood.
Red Branch is our take on American hoppy red/amber. One of the classic American craft beer styles, that has fallen on hard times. Partly because the typical haze of modern hoppy beers doesn’t look as attractive in darker beers. The malt in ours reminds me of North Coast Red Seal, with a rounded caramel flavor and a hint of chocolate roast. The hops are more intense, with pineapple leading thanks to Denali hops.
Mike & Scott
