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Ballyhoo: Got IPA?

a glass of orange juice

I talked about beer names last month, as I get asked all the time about the circus-themed ideas we have for our beers. Lately, there’s a new flavor (pun intended) to the question: It’s some variation of “What’s your specialty?” or “What styles will you be serving?” Strangely, I wasn’t prepared for the question. I should have expected it, since that’s one way a brewery can be unique in this crowded marketplace. Breweries specialize all the time… Belgian Beers, Hazy Beers, Barrell-Aged Beers, the list goes on. So, what’s LUKI’s beer plan? Good question!

It needs some backstory, so let’s roll the clock back a bit to the start of our homebrewing career. The first batches were obviously what we wanted to drink. It took some time to make those passable, but once we got there, of course we wanted to force our friends and loved ones to try our swill. Hard as it is to believe, not everyone wanted to try our massive 100+ IBU Pliny The Elder clone. We love to brew, but averaging one batch a month is a lot of beer to consume (that’s more than a pint a night). So, we had to make styles others would be willing to drink. This became habit and forced us to learn about different styles and the technical challenges of each. We’d hear, “I like a good Belgian Tripel”, and set out to research and understand the style to brew ourselves. Rarely would the first attempt be perfect, but we’d focus on the techniques, buy a commercial example to calibrate, and improve our approach. Do we have a go-to for showing off what we can make? Not anything specific. Our passion lies with the discovery process, not being locked into a specific style. Our late homebrew career had a lot of success with a fusion of styles.

Surly Brewing, based in Minnesota, is one of my favorite mid-scale craft breweries. Omar Ansari, the owner and founder, has always said “Surly doesn't brew to style.” We find a lot of inspiration in that statement. Awards in a specific style category are cool, but creating great beer to be enjoyed is much better and became the guiding thought.

When I give a long non-answer like this, I usually get the response, “Ok, so what do you like?”

There’s the Dad joke that goes “What’s your favorite type of beer?”; the answer is “The free one sitting in front of me.” Yeah, I’m that guy, but there are styles I could do without. I don’t understand chili beer. I think it’s difficult to balance the heat with the flavors of traditional brewing. It’s hard to pull off successfully. I love hot foods, and as proof I have three different versions of The Last Dab from Hot Ones in my refrigerator. Just not with my beer.

I’m a fan of dark, malty beers. Malt-forward, as they say. Cammy is the same, but goes for more of a Schwarzbier or Red. Darker beers are misunderstood. I think they get a bad reputation as being “heavy”, when it’s just the roasted color that’s driving it. Of course, a heavy pastry stout does nothing to sway the opinion, and neither does the crazy “imperial” ABV’s that get associated with dark beers. Hey, stouts can be lighter than that sugar-filled milkshake/fruit/vanilla/hazy beer everyone likes. Don’t worry, we’ll make those along with the dark beers. In fact, a homebrewed raspberry milkshake IPA is currently on tap at the Smith household.

What’s our style, what’s our specialty? The real answer is “you tell me”. We’re going to start with a base rainbow of flavors and see where we go. This is one of the unique founding pieces of creating this brewery. There wasn’t a magic recipe that won a homebrewing competition so we thought we would “take it pro” and make millions. It’s just the opposite. We wanted to create a great taproom experience first, built around a fantastic beer lineup where everyone… craft and non-craft beer drinker alike… could find something to enjoy. Even if that means Hard Seltzer (gasp!). Or, if you really want, a chili beer.

Cheers.
-Jeff
January 30, 2020.
Written while drinking a Stone IPA.  I know. Not a stout. And February is stout month.

“From first to last, the peak is never passed. Something always fires the light that gets in your eyes.” – Neil Peart.  Thanks for the inspiration, Professor.