2016 was a year of challenges for Method. Permitting, building, and retrofitting kept us slammed with only the least-fun of the brewery tasks, and kept us from the things we really enjoy about this work. 2017 promises a lift from the fog, and with our pocket astrolabes we’ve already plotted a course to include more outreach, more experimentation, and, most importantly, more beer. We’ve spent the last 6 weeks brewing new beers and improving on some old favorites, and are preparing for a Brewflood. Here’s the taplist:
- Jalapeno IIPA: ~7% ABV. A malty IPA with fresh jalapenos added, for a strong vegetal aroma and a spicy finish.
- Toasted oat India red ale: ~6% ABV. Smooth, soft mouthfeel with a roasty aroma and a delicate hop bill.
- Toasted oat India red ale with jalapeno: the above, with fresh jalapenos added.
- Black tea and chamomile saison: ~5% ABV. A traditional farmhouse ale, loaded with wheat and pilsner malt and fermented hot for a balance between crisp freshness and funk. Tea and chamomile spiked in to bring out the funk.
- Single-malt IPA 1: ~6.5% ABV. Made to showcase a test blend of savory Sorachi Ace and fragrant Citra hops.
- Single-malt IPA 2: ~6.5% ABV. Made to showcase a test blend of Sorachi Ace and dank Australian Mosaic hops.
- Traditional kolsch: ~5% ABV. A light and refreshing German ale.
- Grapefruit shandy: ~4.5% ABV. Part kolsch, part fruit juice. To keep the ABV and flavor high, we used super-concentrated, clarified grapefruit juice.
- Passionfruit shandy: ~4.5% ABV. Same as above, but with concentrated, clarified passionfruit juice.
- Blood orange black kolsch: ~6% ABV. The crisp and refreshing kolsch, with a finish heavy on sweet fruit and chocolate. Fresh blood orange peel from Brokaw Ranch in Santa Paula, CA.
- Barrel-aged black kolsch: ~6% ABV. Same as above, but aged in a barrel from Seven Stills in SF.
- Imperial nut brown ale with English ale yeast: ~10% ABV. Strong nutty flavor and a huge malty backbone.
- Imperial nut brown ale with San Diego superyeast: ~10% ABV. Same beer as above, but with a different malt profile from the use of a highly-attenuating strain of yeast from San Diego.