Piloting Brave New Brews At Baxter Brewing; Entry 085

Great Beer Adventure

Amanda is talking with Ryan Fitch from Baxter Brewing Company in this week’s episode. Ryan has been in the Maine brew scene for 11 years. His life is filled with hockey, beer, and kids – so Ryan couldn’t be happier. Prepare for light puns, slurring relatives, and beer name conventions. There’s no need to wait in line for the release of this week’s episode, so go hit play! Also, a quick PSA: when waiting in line or camping out at a brewery release do not bring your own beer. It’s illegal!

What’re They Drinking?

Epiphany Foundation Brewing (8% ABV): We indulged in our desire to create an IPA that personifies the vivid flavors that can be coaxed from the hop cone, painted on a canvas of soft malt that allows the flavors to shine through. Extensively hopped in the kettle and in the fermentor, we spared nothing in making this beer.

Venture Foundation Brewing (8% ABV): Venture is a Maine IPA created to revel in the breadth of flavors and aromas that can be coaxed from hops. The blend of hops in this beer provide rich flavors of berries, tropical fruit, citrus and pine without lingering bitterness.

Baxter Brewing Company Recipes

Ryan loves double IPAs, hefeweizens, and lagers. When Baxter was looking for a new winter seasonal and Ryan thought an imperial hefeweizen could work. A 7% beer could end up working all year round as well. They tested the recipe on the pilot system a lot before they ended up releasing it. At least a dozen pilot batches were made before the recipe stuck.

The pilot system is the full embodiment of the homebrew spirit but inside a brewery. Sometimes the beers come out great. Sometimes you end up with…guacamole beer? Soggy burrito beer? Personally, if I had to go all out and try something outside the box I would go with shrimp beer. Because who doesn’t want notes of pink exoskeleton in their drink?

Naming the beer wasn’t a simple task either. Using seasonal words in the title would end up hurting beer sales when it was brewed year round. I mean, would you want to buy a beer called “Winter Snow Funtime” in the middle of July? When the name is out of season people generally think the beer is really old. Another name invoked notes of Harry Potter, and while that would most certainly appeal to Amanda’s sensibilities, it wasn’t quite what Baxter was going for.

Coastal Haze is the final name.

Challenge Accepted

Ever wonder how many 12oz beers are in a keg? Here is a handy chart from KegWorks with the breakdown for each keg size.

	Cornelius Keg	Sixth Barrel Keg	Quarter Barrel Keg	Slim Quarter Keg	Half Barrel Keg
Gallons	5	5.16	7.75	7.75	15.5
Ounces	640	661	992	992	1,984
Liters	18.93	19.55	29.34	29.34	58.67
Height	23?	23?”	13?”	23?”	23?”
Width	9?	9¼”	16?”	11?”	16?”
Bottles / Cans (12oz)	53	55	82	82	165
Pints (16 oz)	40	41	62	62	124
Growlers (64 oz)	10	10	15.5	15.5	31
Alternate Names	Corny Keg	? Barrel, Sixtels	Pony Keg, Stubby Quarter	Tall Quarter	Full Size Keg, Full Keg

Make sure you text GBA to 31996 to learn more about Amanda’s beer activity book. Now go tune into some fine beer and have an awesome weekend.

Links

Baxter Brewing Company

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