EVERY YEAR when Savannah Craft Beer Week comes around, each of the local breweries brews up something special just for that week, sometimes just for one night of the week. Each of the breweries are also having special events associated with the week but I want to focus on just those beers.
Southbound Brewing: Craft Brew Fest marquee sponsor Southbound is focusing on a collaboration with local radio station Rock 106.6 to brew up a Belgian Triple they are calling “Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Belgian’s Door.” Southbound will be officially tapping that beer at the brewery on Saturday, October 14th during their “Night of the Living Laughs” comedy night with the Rock 106.1 team. That said, Southbound will be sending a firkin Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Belgian’s Door to the Savannah Craft Brew Fest.
Coastal Empire Brewing Co.: Coastal has brewed up two beers just for events during Savannah Craft Beer Week. Coastal teamed up with some of the employees at Crystal Beer Parlor. This beer is a Double IPA brewed with Galaxy, Mosaic, and Azzaca hops. That double in the name means it will pack a punch so be looking for that 8.8% ABV. The collaboration will be served up at Crystal Beer parlor the Wednesday leading up to the Craft Beer Fest. The second beer Coastal Empire brewed up for the week is a Pineapple Cranberry Gose. Coastal makes a fantastic gose called Coco Pina Gose. They know how to make a great gose and the pineapple cranberry version should be no different.
Moon River Brewing: Moon River also has two special beers prepared just for Craft Beer Week. The first is their annual sweet potato harvest beer called Taterlicious Harvest Ale. Moon River Head brewer John Pinkerton says “From our very first ‘tater beer, way back in 2003, the annual brew was always a grand experiment in baking, roasting, blanching, boiling... trying to squeeze whatever we could out of a sweet potato. In 2016 we finally discovered the ideal process for brewing with sweet potatoes. What we got was way more sweet potato goodness than we ever imagined!” Taterlicious has a strong malt base that the sweet potatoes add a spicy and roasty flavor to. You can ask to have Taterlicious served in a glass rimmed with Moon Rivers Tater Spice blend.
Having perfected Taterlicious John decided to up the ante by doubling the malt bill and sweet potatoes and changing the yeast. This new beer has been dubbed Taterater. Both of these beers will be available Friday September 1. Taterater will also be bottled and available at all the local bottle shops.
Service Brewing: Service Brewing has a lot going on the week of Craft Beer Week. Not only are they brewing up several beers for their Friday night Indian Street Block Party but they will also be releasing their annual Geek Out Stout -- in fact they have three different versions this year. Service Brewing’s Head Brewer Austin Brown had this to say; “I have been pretty busy on our R&D brew house preparing for this week and the Indian Street Block Party Sept 1. I have a lot of great beer to share in our tasting room, including one of my favorites, a Grisette brewed with our house yeast cultured from honeycomb from our brewery apiary. We will also be pouring 3 varieties of our Imperial Geek Out Stout, Ossabaw IPA brewed with yaupon holly leaves from local tea maker, ASI Tea Company and a nitro coconut cream ale brewed with Canewater Farm grits. It’s going to be a fun night to raise glass!”
