It's no secret that Nicolas Cage is the world's greatest method actor. On his journey to find #cibola and its #GoldenPromise of #elDorado, Nic Cage (or The Cage, as his buds call him) inspired a small brewery in downtown Meadville, Pennsylvania (that's us) to create an epic triple IPA that could live up to the epic-ness that is Nic Cage. It just seemed like destiny when we had bags of Golden Promise malt and an abundance of el Dorado hops.
So #cibola was born. It's a hop bomb with 5 lbs of hops per barrel (that's 50 lbs of hops total) of mostly el Dorado and Galaxy hops. (These hops produce more of a citrus note, rather than overly bitter and grapefruity one). Even with the 30 lbs. of local and organic honey (to give those yeasty creatures something more to munch on) and the added honey malt, the beer isn't overly sweet like your typical triple IPAs. And because we're not biased at all, we think it's a highly drinkable 10.2% ABV triple IPA that will appeal to even the most staunch Hop Haterz. Plus, it looks sexy in a glass:
so fresh and so clean
When Nic Cage heard about our brewing exploits (possibly via a hidden clue found in the lower right hand corner of the new 100 dollar bill, found when he looked at one while wearing the underpants of Ulysses S. Grant and the spectacles of Ghandi), he stopped by the brewery to check up and offer his sage advice on how to make #cibola comparable to the legendary city of gold. Luckily, we were able to snap a few photos of his visit:
Here's Head Brewer Kirt with The Cage
The Cage checking out our beer fridge
Hey! What are you doing on Kirt's computer?!
Just making sure the boiler is on!
In honor of Nicolas Cage and his recent 50th birthday (Happy Birthday, Nic!), we'd like to highlight some of his finest roles that you might not have known Nic Cage actually played (He is the best method actor, remember?!).
Due to the high level of physical and acting ability needed in Episode VI, The Cage played the double for Princess Leia
In one of his more serious roles, he played Albert Einstein
As Andre the Giant, The Cage grew 16" and put on 177 lbs
Che Cage
Very few people know that Hulk Hogan is actually Nic Cage
His role in E.T. is considered his most heart-wrenching
Nic Cage gon' Find you
His skills aren't limited to just acting, The Cage also had a hit song "Call Cage, Maybe"
Remember when The Cage won 8 gold medals?
Every 90's child's favorite Cage role
Who could forget The Cage as #33?
My personal favorite SpongeBob Squarepants episode!
Most people don't know Nic Cage founded Disney
Nic was nominated for best actor by the Canadian Film Critics Circle for his role as Monkey
If you look close enough, Gandalf the Gray reincarnates into Nic Cage the White
Carrot Top Cage (that's his real hair, he willed it curly and red. Expert method actor technique.)
Who could forget the time The Cage played all of the roles in The Avengers (stunning visuals!)
Cage as Hermione
AND Voldemort!
Remember when He came in like a wrecking ball?
Wonka Cage
DJ'ing on NYE 2012
The Cage caused quite a stir when he became the former dictator of North Korea
Nic's Facebook Profile Pic
Remember when He played this guy's chest in that one movie?
Fact: The Cage's hair is actually a living hawk
C-A-G-E!
Playing two roles at once is no problem for The Cage!
Nic Cage was originally casted as the lead in Twilight but due to conflicts was unable to shoot the last scene, which then became the entire movie.
Snooki Cage
Who could forget his ground breaking role as Johnny Blaze in Ghost Rider?
You've undoubtably seen this hashtag on Instagram attached to an incredibly boring photograph that someone was too lazy or too indecisive to actually choose a filter. Or maybe it's just one of those lucky moments where you really don't need a filter.
#Duckfaces always need a filter
I don't know about Instagram filters, but I do know we don't filter our personalities. We're like your Aunt Bernadette after 3 glasses of Pinot Gris and one "Mostly-G-and-a-Splash-of-T" Gin and Tonic on Christmas Eve.
Who let Grandma on the internets again?!
We also don't filter our beers. We're probably just too attached to the yeast anyways. We want them to party on for as long as possible. It's why we play music for them 24/7/365 in the brewery.
#YeastParty #nofilter #sup...ladies
So we made a beer that's typically unfiltered, a traditional Saison, and called it #nofilter (6.8% avb). It's got a little bit of wheat to give it that unfiltered cloudiness, just a hint of honey malt to give it a smallest bit of sweetness, and some lactic acid to give it a kick of tartness.
As the Great Mr. Miyagi once said, "Saison, Saisoff."
Enjoy the unfiltered life.
Cheers!
(Here are some seemingly related photographs)
Apparently, the Bulls played a game in Pleasantville
It's no secret that we love West Coast Reggae Rock.
We listen to it while we brew, while we work the bar, during bottling days, and in the car driving to and from work (because, let's be honest, with you guys drinking so much of our beer, we don't have time to drive anywhere else!) Most of us grew up during the 80s and 90s, just as Sublime was formed and started producing melodic tunes that were #chill and #rad, basically music that didn't actually raise your blood pressure when you plugged in your headphones into your cassette player and pressed play.
Sublime's first album "40oz. to Freedom" is still one of our all time favorites and we've always wanted to design a Sublime inspired brew.
This song might be the only chance you have to feel good, even though you feel bad
Coincidentally, with the uprising of twitter and the invasion of the "hashtag" into Facebook, we discovered the joys of over-hashtagging our in-person conversations after a beer or two. Punchlines became Hashtags.
So, we thought it would be a funny idea to start a "Hashtag Beer Series" where we'd brew up a scratch batch, bottle it, and name it after whatever "#" we thought fit the beer style.
We knew it wasn't long before someone else thought to make a #Hashtag beer and realized it was the perfect time to dedicate a beer to Sublime (and the late Bradley Nowell).
#22oztofreedom is a malt liquor meant to be enjoyed in a brown bag and on the stoop.
While 40 oz. to Freedom might be the only chance Bradley to feel good, even though he felt bad, we hope #22oztofreedom is a chance for you to feel good.
There she is...in all her glory
The back....we r #hilarious
So put your phone down, #popthetop, and savor this beer.
Keep your eye out for the next #hashtag installment!
It's been months in the making, but we're pleased to announce that we will be distributing to our 3rd state: New York -- more specifically, NYC and Brooklyn. Yesterday, we shipped out 8 pallets packed full of beer to the Dora's Naturals warehouse. Coming soon to a bodega near you (among many other places), New Yorkers will be able to buy 22oz bottles of Gran Met (our Belgian Triple), Big Brown Ale (our robust brown/porter hybrid), and Pilzilla (a Kellerbier made with our house lager yeast). We also sent draft of these three beers and an entire pallet of White Magick 12oz bottles.
A little sneak peek at the bottling process
All the beers
Wrapped and ready to go to the Big Apple
It was a crazy couple of months. Kirt spent his weeks meticulously planning his brews in order to fill the NYC order and keep the pub full of our 6 flagship beers as well as brainstorming, brewing, and maintaining the 4 seasonal beers on tap. Our stock room was filled to the brim. We had to use ladders to reach the tops of the stacks of beer. And now, with our stock room feeling a little empty and our third state under our belt, we turn our attention to the Barrel Room Release on September 28th. We hope you New Yorkers enjoy our beers as much as we enjoy making them!
As far as pub beers go, the time for the Mosaic and Jenny's Cream Fraiche is winding down. Coming up next we have our Polish Lager, Poznań Zdjęcie, (made with all Polish ingredients) and named after the town Curt and Matteo's family emigrated from.
Pretty sweet
We also have our next brew in the Single Hop Series finishing up its dry hop schedule. Using the same grain bill, this beer will profile the Amarillo hop (8.2% Alpha Acid, for you beer nerds).
