We have gotten a few comments in the last while about the weird twist that has happened at Short Finger since the start of the pandemic. Yeah, we made a lagerbier, a proper lager, and I didn’t even throw anything weird in it. The week before I packaged Workhorse, I was sitting in the brewhouse staring at the tank trying to decide if I should bottle condition our lagerbier with Brett. I didn’t. I think Stu walked by and gave me one of those looks and told me not to do whatever I was thinking about doing. Usually this would mean I would do it immediately, but in this case I had a good feeling about staying clean (no bacteria or Brett added).
We have also been kicking out a few IPAs and a steady stream of lower ABV Pale Ales. Low ABV is almost always my personal preference but, this spring (the soggy piece of shit it has been), I found myself enjoying a few more IPAs than I normally would. I was very happy with how our version of All Together IPA turned out. SO, I actually have another IPA in tank that has one of our highest dry hopping rates to date at 27g/L. If I am able to squeeze any beer out of the green soup I have created, you may get to try it.
The point of this blog post is, as always, to let me ramble on for a while, but also to stress our tight drink-by dates. If you got True Believer this past week, you should have noticed our sweet new labels... but also a bottling date with a note to drink within 3 weeks. I had never planned on packaging True Believer or any of our hoppy beers; they were always intended to be for in-house consumption (mostly my house). But, strange times and here we are. Since we were forced to cross this bridge I want to be super clear with everyone. Do not cellar these beers. Drink them immediately (I mean, don’t chug em in our parking lot or anything). If I release a hoppy beer, I have found prime drinking is usually one week from bottling. I am trying to keep up with demand so that we have fresh hoppy beer at least every other week for you thirsty people, but please remember that Pale Ales are my side hustle.
A new Lando (Batch AC) drops today (Wednesday, May 20). If you are unfamiliar with our Lando series (or not sure how to identify the one that’s been hiding out in your cellar), please inform yourself here. Lando is meant for informed consumption, as it tells the story of Short Finger over the years. Any Lando batch that begins with the letter A means that it is a neutral oak blend. AC batch is the 3rd neutral release; these are always my favourites. Our last batch, PB - Puncheon Blush (or Panic Buy) sold out much faster than usual. Maybe it was the panic buying. We still have plans for Lando Day on Saturday, June 20th, but obviously it will not be the bash that we would normally throw. Details to come as the date approaches.