Summer is on it’s way for sure now. to that end we are rolling out the first of our Super Special summer beers: Mahalo, Apollo! (Welcome, Sun God). Here’s a short description “A wheat ale for summer spiced with Honey, Lemongrass, Grains of Paradise, and Amarillo Hops.” This beer totally rocks and is a staff favorite. Come and get it tonight!

In case you’re interested here’s the full jilt:

In early history spices were a luxury item and, consequently, one of the world’s most valuable trade goods. Until Hops became the dominant spice in beer, brewers (like us) would throw just about anything they could get their hands on into the kettle! Beer was commonly made with an ever changing mixture of herbs and spices know a Gruit to help preserve it, and to add bitterness and flavor until about the 13^th century. Brewers started using hops and stopped using gruit for a couple of reasons: 1) hops helped to preserve the beer better and 2) in France King Louis the 9^th threatened to cut off their heads if they didn’t buy his hops! In any case, consumers preferred the flavor of beer brewed with hops, and with a few exceptions spiced beers more or less died.

Mahallo, Apollo is a Summer Beer that blends traditions of European summer beer cultures into a product that is uniquely American. It’s a wheat beer. It’s strong. It’s flavored with Lemongrass from India and the West African spice Grains of Paradise. Lemongrass is a grass the smells like fresh cut lemon rind and Grains of Paradise is a ginger like seed that has a zesty flavor reminiscent of pepper, with hints of flowers, coriander and cardamom. The beer contains unpasteurized honey, and has been hopped with Amarillo adding to the peachy citrus nose. It was fermented with a Belgian yeast strain which enhances the complex flavor.  This unfiltered ale is crisp, refreshing, and food-friendly. Welcome Summer! 6.9% ABV 20 IBUs