It's our 3 year anniversary! Each year for our anniversary we hold a cellar raid to make room for the new year's beers. This year is extra special because we are finally releasing the Laurentian Series in its entirety. Very few sets are available for the public, as our bottle club had the first opportunity to reserve those.
A bit of advice if you are trying to get some specific bottles: reserve the bottles you are most excited about first, and then go back and reserve the rest of your desired bottles. As you might expect, some of these bottles are extremely limited... this is the best way we've found to keep it fair for everyone without doing a lottery.
Reservations open Saturday the 4th at noon, and end Friday the 10th at noon.
Eventbrite Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/speciation-2020-cellar-raid-laurentian-release-tickets-87544567157
The January pickup window is:
Friday Jan. 10th: 4-10pm
Saturday Jan. 11th: 12-10pm
Sunday Jan. 12th: 12-6pm
January 2020 releases:
The Laurentian Series: The Complete 5 Lake, 6 Bottle Set
If you are reading this, you probably know that a very big goal of our company from day 1 was to coolship wort near each Great Lake, spontaneously ferment in oak with no added cultures, and release all the lakes as a set and a master blend. That day is finally here, and I can tell you that we are all absolutely ecstatic with the results.
It's difficult to explain how much time and energy has gone into making these beers, but I'll attempt. First we coordinate with each brewery to pick a tentative brew day. We say tentative because spontaneous beers are generally brewed during the cooler months which means we sometimes have to postpone due to weather. We load our trailer up with MI grown grain, aged MI Brewers Gold hops, and our mobile coolship. Then we drive to the host brewery often hours away.
The next day we typically brew the wort and strategically pick a safe place to stash the coolship full of boiling wort, depending on where we are located, sometimes we coolship at our hotel parking lot, in parks on the lakeshore, at the brewery production facility or in one case on the front lawn of one of the brewers! We typically leave the coolship our overnight to collect microbes from about 4pm until 9am. The next day we load up and drive back to our facility in Grand Rapids where we transfer the inoculated wort into steam sanitized barrels to ferment untouched for 8-36+ months.
There are so many risks involved in this process, and as you'd imagine... we lost a few barrels to various off flavors. For this release, we picked barrels that rated highest on a guided tasting we held with staff, friends, and Cultured Club members on April 3, 2019.
The final product is a perfect combination of classic Gueuze and modern spontaneous methods and flavors.
Laurentian: Superior was brewed at Ore Dock in Marquette, MI on March 25, 2017, and aged in oak for 28 months and bottle conditioned for 7 months for a total age of 35 months.
Laurentian: Erie was brewed at HOMES in Ann Arbor, MI on April 11, 2018, and aged in oak for 13 months and bottle conditioned for 8 months for a total age of 21 months.
Laurentian: Michigan brewed at Big Lake brewing in Holland MI on April 18, 2018 and aged in oak for 14 months and bottle conditioned for 7 months for a total age of 21 months.
Laurentian: Huron brewed at Austin Brothers in Alpena, MI on April 23, 2018, and aged in oak for 13 months and bottle conditioned for 8 months for a total age of 21 months.
Laurentian: Ontario was brewed at Swiftwater Brewing in Rochester, NY on October 30, 2018. Aged in oak for 8 months and bottle conditioned for 7 months for a total age of 15 months.
Laurentian: Cuvée Des Grands Lacs was blended from all 5 spontaneous batches on June 18, 2019 and bottle conditioned for 7 months.
The set is $200 for six 750ml bottles, plus a Laurentian branded carrying bag. Limit 1/person.
CELLAR RAID:
Laurentian Glassware (2020) - Rastal 40cl Winebar tumbler - gold rimmed & gold printed. This thing is gorgeous. $12/glass - 90 available - Limit 1
Earth Analog (2020) - Spontaneously Fermented Barrel Aged Cider with Peach Pits & Vanilla - Peach pits contain a surprising amount of flavor ranging from almond to vanilla and even straight up peach. This cider is bone dry with zero residual sugar, but the peach pits and vanilla add layers of perceived sweetness, making this the perfect winter sipper. Please note this was aged in beer barrels and is not considered gluten free. $20/4 pack - 120 4 packs available - Limit 2
Abiogenesis (2019) - Passion Fruit/Strawberry - untappd: 4.31 - $20 - 28 available - Limit 2
Allopatric (2019) - Mezcal BA Wine/Beer Hybrid - untappd: 4.25 - $22 - 33 available - Limit 2
Apomixis (2018) - Applejack BA sour - untappd: 4.2 - $20 - 6 available - Limit 1
Bioluminescence (2019) - Mezcal/Hibiscus/Rosemary - untappd: 4.26 - $24 - 10 available - Limit 1
Bujumbura (2019) - Golden Sour w/ Coffee - untappd: 3.95 - $20 - 36 available - Limit 3
Centromere (2018) - Sour w/ Elder Flower, Marigold, Rose, Hibiscus, & Chamomile - untappd: 4.06 - $20 - 16 available - Limit 1
Dimorphic (2018) - Foeder Sour w/ Cherries - untappd: 4.12 - $20 - 13 available - Limit 1
Edge Effect (2019) - Grand Marnier BA Sour - untappd: 4.12 - $20 - 27 available - Limit 2
Erasmus (2019) - Foeder Sour w/ Peaches & Rooibos Tea - untappd: 4.24 - $20 - 36 available - Limit 3
Facilitated Adaptation (2018) - Tequila BA sour w/ Pineapple & Denali Hops - untappd: 4.26 - $22 - 28 available - Limit 2
Facilitated Adaptation (2019) - Tequila BA sour w/ Pineapple, MI Heritage & Motueka Hops - untappd: 4.36 - $22 - 31 available - Limit 3
Finite Population (2019) - Whiskey BA Sour w/ Blueberries and Vanilla - untappd: 4.2 - $22 - 35 available - Limit 3
Gene Flow (2017) - Gose w/ Cranberry, Hibiscus, Orange Zest - untappd: 4.26 - $15 - 37 available - Limit 3
Gene Flow (2018) - Gose w/ Cinnamon, Cranberry, Hibiscus, Orange Zest - untappd: 4.28 - $15 - 20 available - Limit 2
Golden Valley (2019) - Orval Inspired Brett Beer *2019 Beer City Pro-Am Winner!* - untappd: 3.86 - $14 - 54 available - Limit 5
Heredity (2018) - Oak Aged Sour w/ Blackberry - untappd: 4.2 - $22 - 10 available - Limit 1
Hopeful Monster w/ Ginger (2019) - Foeder Sour w/ Blackcurrant & Ginger - untappd: 4.33 - $22 - 25 available - Limit 2
Humanoid Tree Blood (2019) - BLiS Maple/Bourbon BA Wild Ale w/ Peaches - untappd: 4.15 - $24 - 15 available - Limit 1
Hybridization (2018) - Whiskey BA Sour/Cider Hybrid w/ Lemon - untappd: 4.17 - $22 - 12 available - Limit 1
Hydrozoa (2019) - Rose inspired Sour Aged in a Wine Barrel - untappd: 4.08 - $20 - 48 available - Limit 4
L’Obel (2018) - Foeder Sour w/ Boysenberry - untappd: 4.26 - $22 - 13 available - Limit 1
Language of Origin (2019) - Gin BA Sour w/ Strawberry, Hibiscus, Vanilla, Lemon - untappd: 4.14 - $22 - 28 available - Limit 2
Magic Trait (2018) - BA Sour with Blackberries, Blackcurrants & Blueberries - untappd: 4.35 - $22 - 43 available - Limit 3
Mandarax (2019) - Foeder Sour w/ Mandarin, Lime & Coconut - untappd: 4.11 - $20 - 56 available - Limit 5
March of Progress (2019) - Foeder Sour w/ Rhubarb & Vanilla - untappd: 4.42 - $22 - 75 available - Limit 6
Megafauna (2019) - Puncheon Aged Sour w/ Beets & Sweet Cherries - untappd: 4.06 - $20 - 36 available - Limit 4
Meiotic Drive (2018) - Foeder Sour w/ Elderberries - untappd: 4.26 - $22 - 17 available - Limit 1
Metamorphogenesis (2018) - Wine BA Sour w/ Lemon, Passionfruit and Kiwi - untappd: 4.44 - $22 - 10 available - Limit 1
Microbiome (2019) - Peach Brandy BA sour - untappd: 4.25 - $20 - 29 available - Limit 2
Monotypic (2019) - Gin BA Sour w/ Cherry, Orange, Pomegranate, Pineapple & Lime - untappd: 4.38 - $24 - 8 available - Limit 1
Outcrossing (2019) - Spontaneous Sour w/ Black Currant, Cherry & Vanilla - $26 - 24 available - Limit 2
Phase Variation (2018) - Highlands Scotch BA Imperial Golden Sour - untappd: 4.3 - $24 - 24 available - Limit 2
Phylogenetic (2019) - Foeder Sour w/ Tangerine - untappd: 4.21 - $20 - 23 available - Limit 2
Phylogenetic - Vanilla Variant (2019) - Foeder Sour w/ Tangerine & Vanilla - untappd: 4.3 - $22 - 12 available - Limit 1
Pleiotropy (2018) - BA Dark Sour w/ Madcap Coffee - untappd: 3.95 - $20 - 24 available - Limit 2
Prime Mover (2018) - Foeder Sour w/ Orange and Ginger - untappd: 4.16 - $22 - 11 available - Limit 1
Protozoa (2019) - Spontaneous Sour w/ Tart Cherries - untappd: 4.27 - $24 - 38 available - Limit 3
Rhubarb Vanilla Incipient (2017) - Golden Sour w/ Rhubarb & Vanilla - untappd: 4.22 - $22 - 15 available - limit 1
Serial Passage (2019) - Whiskey BA sour w/ Mango, Ginger & Lime - untappd: 4.02 - $22 - 20 available - Limit 2
Slow Mutant (2019) - BA Cider/Beer Hybrid w/ Mango & Pineapple - untappd: 3.96 - $20 - 28 available - Limit 2
Tequila BA Incipient (2017) - Tequila BA Sour w/ Blood Orange, Guava, Lime & Salt - untappd: 4.32 - $22 - 34 available - Limit 2
The Great Filter (2018) - Foeder Sour with Honey - untappd: 4.07 - $20 - 19 available - Limit 2
Thread of Life (2018) - Foeder Sour w/ Strawberry, Raspberry, Cherry & Vanilla - untappd: 4.29 - $22 - 31 available - Limit 2
Wow. That was quite the list. May The Force be with you!