You've probably notice that we sometimes have small batches of beer on tap that are available for a day or two and then gone, these are often variants of one of our regular beers.
Names like "Brettly So..." - which is our rye ESB (Rightly So...) aged with Brettanomyces. Or "Putin on Le Pitz" - made from the same recipe as our "Putin on the Fritz" Russian Imperial Stout, but fermented with our house Belgian yeast strain and then aged with cherries. There have been many of these types of beer on tap at various times at our taproom, but we've never really formalized what we were doing.
Today that changes. Starting this weekend we are launching our Pilot Series (could call it small-batch series, or experimental series, or any number of things... but when your bar is made from an airplane wing, "pilot" just seems to work best).
Pilot Series beers will have their own section on our menu, and we will attempt to always have at least one on tap at all times. They will often be variations of existing recipes - exploring different adjuncts or yeast strains. We do have some planned, however, that are unique recipes.
The purpose of the Pilot Series is three fold:
1. Most importantly it is research for us on different ideas that we may have. Before we design a whole recipe around a certain yeast strain - we may start by seeing how that strain influences a beer we already know quite well.
2. It gives our customers a greater selection and ensures that there is always something unique and different on tap. We are expanding very soon and will be able to have more beers on tap, but Pilot Series beers will rotate on/off in a period of days vs months.
3. We love that in many cases, these variants will be available alongside their regular variants. This will allow customers to taste side by side and be able to dissect the differences in flavors, and we love talking about that kind of stuff across the bar.
To kick it off, we're going to have FOUR Pilot Series beers on, starting today (and they likely won't last long):
Putin on Le Pitz - aforementioned Belgian Imperial Stout with Cherry
Putin's Brother, Brett - Sour Russian Imperial Stout
Brettly So... - Rye ESB finished with a mixed-culture fermentation including Brettanomyces
Countinghatch - Countinghouse Cream Ale with Hatch Green Chile. This one is my personal favorite right now, but chile beers are a huge guilty pleasure of mine.
We're really excited for this program, we're committed to keeping a Pilot Series beer on tap every week, but we can only brew so fast and our loyal customers have definitely surprised us before... What I'm saying is... Come down tonight or tomorrow and warm up with some of these special beers before the one you want to try is gone (for good?)...