Tim Sciascia, Connor Casey, and Kelly Caveney founded Cellarmaker Brewing Company in San Francisco’s SoMa district in 2013. After meeting at Marin Brewing Company, they acquired a former auto shop, completely gutted it, and turned it into their brewery and tasting room. Russian River was a big influence on the hoppy beers that Sciascia would go on to make at Cellarmaker. He and his crew are hopheads. He eventually began brewing hazy-to-opaque pale ales and IPAs. In November 2022, Cellarmaker acquired The Rare Barrel and its facility in Berkeley, California. Last year, Cellarmaker was part of the Fort George 3-Way IPA. Today, Peaks & pints presents an in-house flight of Cellarmaker beers — a flight we’re calling Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Cellarmaker.
Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Cellarmaker
Cellarmaker Abel Tasman
5.1% ABV
Abel Tasman National Park sits at the northernmost section of the southern island of New Zealand. During a trip to NZ in 2019, Cellarmaker were captivated by the park’s awe-inspiring beauty. While there, they spent crucial time selecting the best hops NZ. Abel Tasman is a 100-percent NZ hopped pilsner with Freestyle Farms grown Nelson, Riwaka, NZ Cascade, and Motueka with dank notes.
Cellarmaker Mo’ Idaho 7
6.8% ABV
“The legend continues, Wu Tang, Wu Tang. Wait, sorry, wrong legend,” states Cellarmaker Mo’ Idaho 7 IPA hype. “The legend of our Mo’ series has a new addition with the dynamic Mosaic hop now teaming up with a fairly new amazing hop unfortunately named Idaho 7 (#notasexyname). But don’t let the name fool you as Idaho 7 brings attractively piquant elements of white gummy bear and citrusy pine!”
Cellarmaker NZ Cascade Galaxy
6.9% ABV
What happens when you grow the Cascade hop in New Zealand? It takes on an entirely new character that you would never guess is coming from the classic hop we all know and love. NZ Cascade is a testament to terroir and imparts complex citrus, tropical fruit and red berry aromas, with little of the pine notes typical of northern hemisphere Cascade. Taiheke hops are a New Zealand variety, but the genetics are very American. Taiheke used to be known as USDA 56013 and was originally crossed way back in 1956. Its genetics consist of English Fuggle and a male derived from the Russian variety Serebrianka. It was commercially released by the USDA-ARS in 1972 and was sought after for its bright aroma of grapefruit, lime, and sweet fruit. Before Cascade was named it was 56013. Therefore, Taiheke is genetically the same as Cascade ergo it could also be called New Zealand Cascade. Team this hop variety with the ever so pungent and sticky Australian grown Galaxy and you’ve a hazy West Coast IPA juice bomb.
Cellarmaker Wild Gooseberry Chase
7.1% ABV
New Zealand Nelson Sauvin is Cellarmaker’s favorite hop. No other hop has such a wide range of aromas and flavors so it’s perfect for a single hop beer such as Wild Gooseberry Chase IPA. For the latest batch they used three different lots of 2021 crop year Nelson from Freestyle Farm in New Zealand to achieve a potent Nelson infused hazy IPA. Expect a sharp gooseberry nose plus white wine notes and a drying, resiny bite.
Cellarmaker Coffee & Cigarettes
7.7% ABV
A lightly smoked coffee porter made with a touch of German beechwood smoked malt as well as high quality English malts to create a chocolaty, roasty, base beer. Then, add two pounds of Sightglass Colombian Finca Madrigal coffee per barrel for an intense but refined coffee character.
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