Behind the Beer: Flag8 Collaboration Beer
Anyone who knows me can tell you that Flagstaff is one of my favorite places in the world. The vibe there is just so laid back and welcoming, there are so many amazing restaurants, and the weather is pretty kick ass most of the year. When Phoenix is 194 degrees you can drive 2 hours up the hill and enjoy clear skies and a drop in temperature of at least 20-30 degrees. Oh yeah, I think they have breweries too. Awesome breweries who make awesome beer including quite possibly my favorite brewery of all time, Mother Road Brewing Company. In total there are now 8 breweries in Flagstaff with Trail Crest Brewing Company joining the fold in 2017.
With collaborations in craft beer being so popular these days it makes sense that there are some great collaborations going on up there in the land of the pines. The Flagstaff breweries decided to kick the collaboration game up a notch with the Flag8 (Flag7 before Trail Crest joined). This year marks the 3rd year in a row that all the Flagstaff breweries gathered to create a true Flagstaff collaboration beer and the first year a new brewery was added to the group. Each year they rotate brewing facilities and this year it was Mother Road’s’ turn.
This year the group decided to take a step onto the dark side with a Baltic Porter. In an era where porters and stouts are chock-full of cookies, marshmallows, and the sort it’s exciting to see this group of awesome breweries go with a classic style. From what I hear this gem is dark brown in color with a malt forward flavor showing hints of roast and chocolate. With this comes a very low hop aroma and bitterness. To add a little bit of depth and complexity to this beer the brewers collectively decided that a light coffee addition would do wonders for bringing out to full potential of this beer. Anyone who knows Flagstaff knows that in addition to great beer and cuisine the city is known for its great coffee. And not just coffee shops but actual roasters, 6 to be exact. Matador, Single Speed, Late for the Train, Fire creek, Macy’s, and It’s About Coffee all contributed a light to medium roast cold brew to the creation of this Baltic Porter. Cold brew is an excellent choice to add to a beer like this due to its reduced astringency and ease of use in the brewery.
The Flag8 Baltic Porter will be launched Thursday February 8th at Uptown Billiards where there will be an all Flagstaff tap takeover from 6pm-9pm. Both a regular version and a coffee version of the Flag8 Baltic Porter available along with other beers from each brewery.
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