Friday, Jul 12, 2019 @ 10:23 am
Since the beginning of the U.S. craft beer boom, as well as our own Minnesotan brewery resurgence, one style has dominated all others: the American IPA. These hop-forward ales have long held the market share of tap lines and liquor store shelf space, and even in the past handful of years, have spawned variants like the Double IPA, West Coast IPA, Brut IPA, and today’s most sought-after style: the Hazy/Juicy IPA.
These variants -- remarkably diverse in appearance, flavor, and aroma for being derived from the same original style -- have allowed the American IPA to remain not just relevant in a market dictated by “what’s new?”, it’s enabled the IPA to thrive and evolve. It’s with that same spirit that are excited to launch our new collection of Bot IPAs.
Released monthly, these ultra-fresh, ultra-limited IPAs will focus on exciting, experimental, and emerging hop varietals, as well as new combinations of hops. Some will be double or even triple dry-hopped. Some will use hops grown here in Minnesota, and some will use hops you haven’t heard of yet.
Each will be assigned its own robot name and design -- featured prominently on the can -- to separate it from the Bots that have come before. The first Bot to make its debut is Beach Bot, a Juicy IPA brewed with Lemondrop hops, then dry-hopped with Lemondrop, Strata, and Citra hops. The result is a blend of bright tropical notes with just enough of a dank aroma to remind you it’s an IPA. Beach Bot is available in our taproom right now, and cans are making their way to liquor stores this week.
Because freshness is of the utmost importance with IPAs, and because we’ll have a brand new Bot IPA coming next month, these cans will only be available for a very short time. We’ll do our best to publish delivery dates in our own distribution territory (mostly Saint Paul) through our Instagram and Twitter to help you find them. And if you miss one, don’t worry. We’ll have another Bot IPA built and ready to deploy in just a few weeks. Some could say we’re building our own robot army. We’d argue that’s not the worst idea.
