Rarely do we need an excuse to try a new beer.
Whether its for work or pleasure, it usually doesn’t take much of an arm twisting for us to enjoy a cold, refreshing pint.
But when we got an email last week from Lithermans Limited co-owner Michael Hauptly-Pierce about a new creation hitting the tap room draft lines last week, we were really intrigued.
Not only was it a New England-style IPA – which we love – but it was a special concoction thought up by assistant brewer Sharon “Dropkick” Curley.
You see, Curley is heavily involved with Lithermans brew sessions, but this was actually her recipe made specifically for a very special, one-time only beer.
In conjunction with the Pink Boots Society, Curely, along with her mom Julie; Janet Sisson, who works in the Lithermans tasting room; and other women involved in the brewing business created Made for Walking IPA over a 12-hour brew day a couple weeks ago.
The Pink Boots Society – a nonprofit founded in 2007 that works to assist, inspire and encourage women beer professionals through education – put a call out to chapters and members, along with supporting breweries and individuals, to put on their pink boots and brew their version of the selected beer style.
This year’s style was brewer’s choice. The only recipe suggestion was to use the custom “Pink Boots Blend” hops from Yakima Chief – Hopunion Hops.
So Curley, who is an IPA fan like us, built a recipe around the hops using pilsner malt, white wheat and flaked wheat. And other ingredients, of course.
The point was to brew and release the beer somewhere around International Women’s Day, which they did last Thursday.
Since the hop blend was a special creation for this specific Pink Boots Society endeavor, it would be hard to replicate the recipe – unless YCH offered it again.
It was a seven barrel batch, which equated to two full-size kegs and 29 cases of 16-ounce cans.
And if the taste is any indication, this one won’t last long. It’s a 6.4 percent hazy looking IPA that is very drinkable. It’s light and refreshing – the kind of IPA you want to drink on a warm summer day sitting in the backyard grilling some burgers and playing yard games.
As IPA fans ourselves, this is one we could drink just about every day – at least the ones that end in Y.
You can only get it at the brewery in the form of tasters, pints, growlers and those snazzy looking cans.
There will definitely be some left when Lithermans opens back up for tasting room hours on Thursday, but don’t expect it to last much past this weekend. In other words, you should probably head down there and get a taste before it’s gone – forever.
And as a little aside, starting next week, Lithermans will expand its hours. They will still be open Thursday and Friday from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday noon to 7 p.m. and are now offering Sunday hours from noon to 4 p.m.
