Lunch Box

Yup, another silly smoothie ale!  At least, that’s what was in the back of my mind when we were designing “Lunch Box.”  We’ve made a few eye-rolling beers over the years.  They’re the ones that seem to have a little gimmick to them that may be kind of trendy or just silly.  BUT, invariably these have turned out to be some of my favorite beers we make!  Tiki Hop Totem, the “milkshake Sour IPA” won my heart (after trying multiple other milkshake IPAs that seemed pointless), after drinking my first one straight off the canning line.  Kokomo Royale, the tropical cocktail smoothie, was our attempt to finally make a pink guava beer that tasted like pink guava.  The only way to achieve that, in our opinion, was to add an insane amount of pink guava puree (like, 1/3 of the beer) and ferment it out at a high alcohol level (8%).  The real kicker in that recipe to keep it from just being boozy fruit pulp was to balance it with something weird…allspice.  It worked.  It worked so well we won the gold medal in the 2024 Texas Craft Brewers Cup decadent category.

But enough context.  The next eye-rolling idea is a fruit-forward, thick-berry sour ale with a beautiful roasty, nutty, malty backbone balance.  We use tons of grape puree, and some rich, sweet huckleberry, and add a challenging amount of roasted peanut flour to the fermenter.  The result is nothing less than a throwback to the ultimate sandwich that’s defined our youth and sometimes our average college meal — the PB&J.  The intensity, balance of PB and J, and the elegance of the mouthfeel viscosity vehicle, all come together to give you an eye-roll of delight! – Co-Owner/Executive Brewer: Jeff Young

Our Lead Brewer Danny talks about developing and brewing the final result: