- Great Notion | Alvarado Street Brewery | Double Dank Shake | Milkshake Double IPA, 8.5%
An early arrival for the 20th of April, this collaboration between Alvarado Street in Monterey and Great Notion in Portland is a complex mélange. Over an oat-heavy grain bill and lactose to thicken the body is ladled Nelson, Simcoe, Eureka hops as well as the lupulin-powder (or “cryo”) form of Citra. The secret ingredient above and beyond is that of terpenes, the aromatic compounds of the cannabis plant. A bhang lassi of a beer, enjoy alone or in conjunction with other relaxing mood modifiers.
- There Does Not Exist | Sowing the Sun | Kölsch, 5%
We are always excited for a drop from There Does Not Exist, close neighbors of ours at the new San Luis Obispo location of Bottlecraft. Their unsettling black-and-white artwork and excellent ability in brewing lagers make for an aesthetic ideal. Sowing the Sun combines pilsner malt with Willamette hops from the Pacific Northwest alongside new-wave German varietal Hallertau Saphir for a citrus-earth dichotomy. A light-bodied and gently hoppy lager, this one is for sitting in the sun and reaping what you sow.
- Mikkeller San Diego | Passion Pool | Passionfruit Gose, 5%
A perennial summer favorite now in its fifth year, Passion Pool is a masterful melding of salted tart wheat ales with zingy acidic passionfruit. I distinctly recall seeing this (San Diego-brewed) can for sale in the beer vending-machine at the back of the Vesterbro location of Ramen to Bíiru, the Mikkeller-owned ramen concept in Copenhagen. As it had only debuted weeks before (this occurred in May 2018), clearly some planning and forethought had gone into giving it such a coveted placement. The machine only accepted coins, which was itself amusing in a city where absolutely anything could be purchased via chip-and-pin from an early date. We are looking forward to drinking this beer all season long!
