Spring Forecast: Belgians & Basil & Black IPA

Here at Sketchbook we believe in spring. Despite the snow and wind.  We believe. And--this is going to be our FIRST spring and summer as a brewery.  We plan on doing it right -- we are refining recipes and planning for months of warm weather selling beer to our thirsty customers. (And never fear, we are also shopping for bike racks).

Here are our plans: 

New Beers Forecast:

  • Belgian Dubbel (on tap later in April)
  • Honey Basil Ale
  • Grodziskie - Polish Gratzer (Smoked Wheat Beer) inspired by Cesar's award-winning brew.
  • Black IPA
  • Scottish 70 Shilling Ale
  • Seasonal Saisons

Backbone Beers & Cider:  These beers will come and go, but if you miss them one week, they will reappear the next month or so. You can count on Snowy Owl (rye amber), Kedzie St. (india red ale), Frogtown ESB (pale ale), Sparta (common cider), No Parking (session pale ale), Et Tu (saison),  and Bud's Corvus (dry stout).  

Our Orange Door IPA is most definitely a backbone beer--and we have a plan to keep it in stock longer (our kegs have been flying out of the alley recently).  Check out the new 15 barrel-fermenter we just moved in Tuesday.

Cesar moving in our new fermenter.

Cesar moving in our new fermenter.

You can read more about our backbone beers here. 

Seasonal Beers: We'll be bringing back our Sparta Tarta (cherry cider-on tap this weekend), and our Ginger  Walloon - a light summer Saison.

Limited Bottle Run: In late April/early May we'll be filling 22 oz. bomber bottles with the Barrel-Aged Lapwing (strong scotch ale). We'll offer these 400 bottles to members first.  Click here to learn more about our CSB membership--open for a limited time for new members.

Lab Beers: Because we're so small--and our customers are so adventurous--Sketchbook regularly cooks up small pilot batches - usually to try out an idea before making a big batch. Remember the 50 shilling scottish?  And the first version of the Smoke Signal (smoked porter)? Experiments planned for this spring and summer include a Belgian Table Ale ("Turbo") bubbling away right now, and first tries of  other new beers like the Scottish 70 Shilling, the black IPA, and more.....



Shawn Decker