The quarterly changing of the guard is upon us once again, with a newly-complete trio of summer seasonals here to fill the void left by the unfortunate but necessary departure of Albatross, Overgrowth, and Loose Seal. And similarly to this past spring’s lineup, we’ve got two returning favorites accompanied by one new addition to the squad.
In our recent blog post about our second anniversary, we mentioned shoshin, a Zen Buddhist concept meaning “a beginner’s mind” – “having an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject, even when studying at an advanced level, just as a beginner in that subject would,” as Wikipedia so eloquently puts it. After deciding to start a brewery as college students with zero industry experience, we learned very quickly that the only way we’d succeed would be through keeping an open mind and maintaining an insatiable thirst for knowledge.
Named to honor that which has guided us since the very beginning, Shoshin is a floral and balanced summer pale ale made with Hallertau Blanc hops. Built to be a bit lighter and more refreshing than Overgrowth, its springtime cousin, Shoshin has a lush character of pineapple and white grape rounding out a dry, cracker-malt backbone.
Garden Party, the first-ever BG seasonal and the subject of oh-so-many taproom inquiries, returns for its third summer. This clean and crisp American wheat beer made with fresh cucumbers is the perfect companion to porch swings, nine o’clock sunsets, and Paul Simon’s Graceland. Serve with a slice of lime for a light touch of refreshing acidity.
Also making a return appearance will be Akamai (Hawaiian Pidgin for “cleverness” or “street smarts”), the double IPA that kicked off a quarterly rotation of juice-nukes that now featuresMammoth and Albatross. This year’s batch of Akamai looks to be even brighter and more tropical than its previous incarnation, dry-hopped with huge amounts of Citra, Simcoe, and Chinook hops.
Garden Party will be released on draft in the taproom tonight, with Akamai following suit on June 15th and Shoshin on June 22nd.
And thus, with the beginning of Shoshin’s rookie year on the Team Summer, we achieve the completion of two out of our four seasonal lineups. Here’s where our production calendar currently stands:
Enjoy the summer, family.