Here’s a fun sneak peek at an upcoming project that might get some of you NE IPA fans pretty excited. There was a bit of an online backlash against the last collaboration that Rhinegeist did, called Astrodwarf – which I thought was pretty tasty, btw. The problem that a lot of you seemed to have with it was the “haze”. The beer was marketed as a hazy IPA, and I think a lot of people (myself included) were expecting something along the NE IPA lines to come out of those cans.
Hopefully this one will satisfy those urges for you.
Who is Castle Island Brewing?
The brewery is teaming up with some of their friends from Boston, a brewery called Castle Island. Castle Island opened up their doors in late 2015, and started out their business by only selling their 16 ounce cans out of their brewery space, with no taproom yet. Distribution followed soon after, and finally this summer, their spacious taproom finally opened.
When Rhinegeist took their first big steps outside of Cincinnati, you’ll remember that it was Boston that they set their sights on first… sending their cider, and then their beer to the distant land of Tom Brady. When Bryant Goulding was asked about why they chose Boston as a destination he had a lot to say about the quality of the beer being produced in the NE market:
Launching beer in a tough market like Massachusetts is going to test our ability to tell our story and position ourselves as a compelling brand in a market that has many delicious local options. If we can succeed in Boston, then we’re confident in our ability to turn people on in other markets.
When he was talking about the “many delicious local options” he had some really great things to say about brewries such as: Nightshift, Trillium, Hill Farmstead and The Alchemist, and right alongside them was Castle Island. It’s nice to see them now teaming up for something here in Cincinnati.
The Beer, Feeling Good
This NE style IPA is packaged in what looks like a 22oz bottle, which is a surprise for the NE IPA style… at least around here. It seems like so far everyone who is packaging these beers is sticking with the more common 16 ounce pint cans to get them into our fridges with as little light interference as possible.
To learn a little bit more about the beer itself, let’s look a little closer at the label:
That rush, that glow. High fives, sunset, blasts of sea air – the search for the perfect wave. We riffed the haze with our Boston brosephuses at Castle Island, delivering a supple NE Style IPA with a nor’easter of hops. On comes the ethereal gloam.
The beer is a nice, solid 8.5% ABV and is listed as 50 IBUs – though you know that goes with NE IPAs. There is a high likelihood that not only will this not taste like 8.5%, I imagine the 50 IBUs will be hidden behind some nice fruitiness.
When Can I Get It?
Relax… I’m jumping the gun on getting this out to you – so I don’t have a date yet, nor do I expect it to be in the short term future. More than likely we are a ways out from this appearing in your beer fridge.
I shot off a couple messages to the brewery, and as soon as (or if) I hear back, I’ll get this updated with some more information… but for now just start getting excited. If this happens it could open up the door for another great NE IPA here in Cincinnati!
UPDATE – 10/11/17
The brewery has finally let us know when this beer will be dropping! The good news is that you might already be seeing it hitting shelves as of this week! Score!