Going into our 4^th weekend of business we are starting to see a few trends emerge with our beer.  One of those trends is that Breakfast in Maui is the most remarked on beer.  The idea that our stouts would be so popular a solid 2-3 months before the unofficial start to “stout season”, was a little off our radar. But both of our big stouts, Breakfast in Maui and Crazy Putin, have been very popular.

This blog I thought I would take a minute to pull back the curtain on Breakfast and Maui.  This recipe comes from our good friend Dave Kippen who is nice enough to lend us his brewing expertise on occasion.  The base beer for this is a big but drinkable stout of 9.7% ABV and 64 IBU.  Complex roasty character comes from plenty of Roasted Barley, Special Roast, and Black malts.  While this beer ferments we get our special ingredient started which is cold steeped Hawaiian Coconut coffee.  The cold steeping process keeps all of the smooth coffee and coconut flavor without adding extra bitterness.  The finished beer you are left with is a lot of big flavors that come together very well.  Coffee, chocolate, and coconut dominate.  Think of eating a mounds bar with a cup of coffee.  We think it is one of the more unique coconut or coffee beers you will find.  Come in and try one.

To pique your interest more, this is only the first of what will be a series of breakfast stouts.  Coming in the not so distant future will be “Breakfast in Ireland.”  Stay tuned for more on that one later!

Dave

Saturday July 15^th we will have a special beer on tap starting at noon until the keg blows.  Live Oak is an imperial red rye IPA coming in at 9.0% abv and 80 IBU.  This is a big beer that is a touch on the boozy side but very drinkable at those numbers.

Live Oak is a special beer to us that was made to remember and pay tribute to a friend.  Our good friend Scott Swingle passed away tragically on May 29^th at the far too young age of 36.  Scott was a big supporter of what we were doing at 4 Two 4.  He couldn’t wait to come up from Indianapolis to check out the brewery.  Unfortunately, that never happened.

If you knew Scott, you knew him to be a genuine, honest, and fun guy.  He lived his life with absolutely no filter.  He said a lot of things publicly I would only say in the most private settings.  Scott was smart as hell and had wit as sharp as a tack. Somewhat of a professional instigator, his twitter handle was @ThatDickScott, where he had quite the following.  And that was his public persona.   Being a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan living in Indy may have contributed to his need to find entertainment on the interwebs.  But beneath that, he was about as real of a dude as you will meet.

Still rattled from hearing of his death, I sat down to think about what a beer that represented Scott would be.  He was a connoisseur of all fine booze.  I was always jealous of his palate being good enough to distinguish good beer, good wine, and his fav—good whiskey.  I also wanted to capture his in-your-face persona and bigger-than-life personality.  What I came up with was this big, aggressive imperial red rye IPA fermented on sliced bourbon barrel staves that were soaked in rye whiskey.  (He drank more bourbon but really loved rye).  It’s kind of an out there recipe that won’t be for everybody, just like him.  But if you like the things he did, I think it will be perfect for you.  And if this beer is a little too strong for you, he would probably have a chuckle at your displeasure.

It will be our great honor to share this beer with all of you.  We hope you all take a second to give a cheers to the man that inspired it and maybe remember someone special to you that has passed on.

Scott is survived by his wife Andrea Swingle and their larger than life Great Dane, Hugo.  Scott was a huge dog lover.  50% of the profits from this beer will be donated to Forever Friends Great Dane Rescue in Indianapolis where they adopted Hugo.

Dave