Last year on April 1, we announced that The Bruery was branching off to create and can fresh, juicy, hazy, hop-forward, aromatic beers under the banner of Offshoot Beer Co. And we did – no joke! Following that proclamation, Offshoot Beer Co. has given life to 24 limited release cans, 50+ small batch draft releases at our Tasting Rooms and exclusive member events, and one new year-round release – Relax [it’s just a hazy IPA] – distributed to select markets.

It’s been a year of experimentation, learning, discovery and growth in the freshman year of Offshoot Beer Co. We’re driven to be a world-class brewery in everything we do under our roof. This includes both celebrating our successes while learning from our trials and tribulations along the way.

Some of our favorite achievements:

Our first release, Fashionably Late, was named the #2 IPA in America by Draft Magazine in 2017.

We collaborated with so many friends in our first year, including Highland Park Brewery, Mason Ale Works, Pinthouse Pizza and Garage Project Brewing.

You finally got cans of fresh, hoppy beer brewed under our roof (and we finally had more hoppy options for us to drink around the, er, office).

We created a way to ship beer cold to doorsteps throughout California by designing a slick, custom box with insulated packaging and cold packs.

Relax [it’s just a hazy IPA] was recently named the Beer of the Week by Imbibe Magazine, and is now distributed fresh – immediately after canning – year-round to Southern California, Northern California, Washington, D.C. and Virginia (and available via OffshootBeer.com and at our retail locations).

It’s been a year of constant learning and improvement, from recipe development and yeast management to dry-hopping schedules and methods.

We’ve pushed the envelope on all things hoppy, from hazy IPAs and DIPAs to more extreme takes, like milkshake IPAs and triple IPAs, in our first year. As we go into year two, we still want to innovate and experiment – perhaps even more so than our first year. But year two will be even more calculated with a new element of maturity, as is the case for any sophomore year.

Rolling into Year Two

Year one was all about creating new recipes and exploring creative treatments for our 16-oz. cans by featuring a rotating series of artists and design styles. We received feedback on both. Going into next year, we’re most especially interested in feedback about what’s in the cans, and we’ll be simplifying artwork on select releases to hone in on just that. More on that below. Suffice to say, year two dials it in by sharpening our focus on cranking out limited, fresh, hoppy, periodic releases – with the advantage of hindsight, hop contracts and our own canning line as we venture into it.

Canning Line

Our rotary canning line – as of today – is now online, and we’ll soon be enjoying a level of quality, flexibility, customization and efficiency that we’ve never seen before. During a canning run, each can on our new canning line will be purged and filled under pressure, much like our bottling line. Rotary canners allow for consistent timing – and much less time – between filling and seaming. In addition, we’ll be incorporating a post-filling, pre-lid application purge. The collective result is less dissolved oxygen in each can, and much more consistency from can to can, helping the beer taste fresher longer. Since it’s our own canning line, we’ll be able to get the beer out of the tank and packaged at the best time for the beer – something that can be a challenge when utilizing mobile canners, who often need to be scheduled months in advance.

New Small Batch, Periodic Releases

As our canning line comes online, we’ll be embarking on a new series of periodic releases that allow us to combine what we’ve learned and our new capabilities. We’ll be designing recipes and releasing IPAs and DIPAs periodically over the upcoming months (when the beer is ready), exploring the best combinations of hops, malt and yeast, gauging fan feedback and potentially scaling up the favorites in the future.

These new, limited, periodic releases will be packaged in 4-packs of 16-oz. cans, featuring a minimalist design, and available directly from our brewery (for ordering via OffshootBeer.com). While the visual differentiation of the packaging from release-to-release will be subtle – signaled only by the color of the plastic holder on top and/or laser printing on the bottom, the innovation and process that goes into each can will express a broader range, and be shared at the time of each release appropriately. Each beer will have a distinct name, making it easy for you to identify beers from release-to-release and share feedback on your favorite rating site. Of course, we’d love to continue hearing feedback directly from you too – your responses will have a direct impact on how we round out our future offerings.

We anticipate the first of these small batch releases to drop near the end of May. New releases will take place periodically over subsequent months. Along the way, we’ll have new collaborations with some of our favorite breweries to pepper in, plus our one-year anniversary beer… next week! So make sure you sign up for information and notification of upcoming sales here.

Our One Year Anniversary Beer

Our 2018 anniversary beer celebrates the one-year milestone while embracing our favorite elements of our top hazy DIPAs from the past year. “1” is a double dry-hopped hazy DIPA featuring 100% Citra. It’s brewed with Golden Promise, Flaked Wheat, Rolled Oats and 2 Row malt for a smooth, round mouthfeel, and fermented with one of our favorite yeast strains, London III, imparting the classic juicy appearance and flavor at a smooth 8.5% ABV. In addition to Citra hops in the brew, “1” is finished with a double dousing of Citra to further accentuate the hop flavor and aromatics.

Wondering who made that amazing label? During our staff retreat in January, we asked our employees to draw a “1” for the birthday of Offshoot Beer Co. Those who behaved (most did!) had their drawings incorporated into the can design. The beer itself and the can design are truly team efforts.

Release Day: Thursday, April 19

“1” will be released on Thursday, April 19 at 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. ET via OffshootBeer.com. At checkout, you’ll have several options for how you would like to get your hands on cans:

A. Pickup at our Fulfillment Center near the Tasting Room at The Bruery in Placentia, CA (from 4/19 to 4/28)

B. Pickup at The Bruery Store at Union Market in Washington, D.C. (from 5/1 to 5/31)

C. Ship anywhere within CA

$1 Shipping!

As we’re celebrating the one-year anniversary of Offshoot Beer Co., we’ll be offering a special shipping promotion: your first four 4-packs of “1” will ship for $1 to anywhere in CA in our custom, cold insulated box.

Everything is first-come, first-served.

Member Preview

Our Society members will have the opportunity to taste the beer prior to its release at our Tasting Rooms in Orange County on Tuesday, April 17 and Wednesday, April 18. “1″ will be available on tap for all other fans starting Thursday, April 19 (the day of the can release). As always, members enjoy special access and discounts on beer releases. If you’re interested in the exclusive perks that our Society memberships offer, get started and join our Preservation Society today.

We couldn’t do what we do without support from fans like you. Thanks for challenging us to be the best we can be. We’ll continue striving to produce fresh, hoppy beers that reward your tastebuds with each sip. We hope you enjoy the results along the way!

The post No joke. Offshoot Beer Co. is Turning One… and Turning a Corner appeared first on The Bruery.