Our R and D department consists of my warped brain, Jesse Dooley’s skilled palate, and two home brewers hammering out test batches from recipes e-mailed by Dan Lipke.  Dan told me he would be too busy during the summer to focus on new Clown Shoes beers.  This forced us to network and enlist some help.

Jeff Leiter joined Clown Shoes after an enthusiastic recommendation from Suzzane and Kate of Cambridge Common.  They told me that if they were putting in tanks tomorrow and Jeff were available, he’d be their first choice.  Jeff owns and manages Silverscape (www.silverscape.com) with his wife Caitlin, which is a successful marketing company downtown, is also a graduate of MIT, has traveled the country visiting the top craft beer producers and providers, and has spent over eight years honing his skills to become a master brewer.  This man has an arsenal of quality recipes that are ready to go into production if he ever chooses to do so.

Patrick Reust, a junior scientist at a nanotechnology lab, came on board next.  Some of you may know him as Jctribe25 on Beer Advocate where, as of this morning, he has made 4635 posts, reviewed 748 beers, and completed extensive beer trades with other members of the site. At least one “Greatest Trader Ever” thread has popped up in his honor.  Brewing is a serious hobby for Patrick. He imagines that later in life he might follow a model similar to Bill at White Birch, with the hope of producing small batch beers with a ton of personality.

Both men live in Somerville.

Fermenting or soon to ferment in basements, closets and garages throughout that wonderful town are:

An Espresso version of Brown Angel that we doubled and will call The Ball Busting Barista Breakfast Brown (the first batch came out too hoppy, so we are gonna make one more test batch and leave off the dry hopping and lower the hops in the kettle a tiny bit). Nik Krankl of Taste Coffee house in Newton, the number twelve rated Barista in the country at this year’s competition, will be providing the espresso.

An imperial version of Hoppy Feet called Hoppy Feet 1.5, clocking in at around ten percent.  The 1.5 will most likely be a straight upsize of the Hoppy Feet recipe, unless the test batch tastes like crap.  If that happens, we’ll get creative.

A Pecan Pie Porter.  We don’t want to make a Ben and Jerry’s flavor here, so we are going to have to play with the ingredients a fair amount to get this one right, with the concept being a richly malted porter that has subtle flavors of molasses, vanilla, and pecan.  The vision is for this to land on some Thanksgiving tables.

An IPA.  Yeah, I am caving in.  We are going to at least play with the concept of making an IPA around the 6 percent ABV range.  How about Clown Shoes Minuteman IPA, to tap into local history?  Too similar to Sam Adams? Can you imagine clown shoes on this statue, but in green so as to blend in?

Finally, just completed by Patrick, was the third test batch of Eagle Claw Fist, an Imperial Amber.  This went into the tank at Mercury on Saturday and is about three weeks from hitting the shelves and tap lines.

An interview with Dan Lipke, Michigan Beer Expedition Part 2, and a shout out to my favorite hot sauce will be upcoming.

Gregg B.

 

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