Among the highlights of this week’s new beer drop are a smattering of vibrantly packaged brews from an assortment of seemingly unrelated breweries: Abomination, Fat Orange Cat, Hoof Hearted, Off Color, and Timber Ales. Far from unrelated, these breweries are actually part of the Twelve Percent Beer Project, a collective that partners with small breweries and helps them produce and distribute their beer.
The whole “Is it one brewery or many breweries” thing can, admittedly, get a little confusing, but Twelve Percent is truly among the OG purveyors of hype beer. We’ve been big fans of this collaborative project for years, and we’d love to tell you all about why they’re so cool!
Long ago in the Beforetimes, Twelve Percent drops were where you’d find some of the most sought-after hype beer. Indeed, the evolution of Twelve Percent tracks the progression of craft beer in the United States at large. The project started with founders Brian Ewing, Ashley Van Valkenburgh, Alex Blank, and Bridget Blank and their love of Belgian beer. What began as an import business focusing on European producers took a turn after a few years around 2010, when Ewing tried a lambic-style beer brewed by homebrewer Brian Strumke, who’d eventually become the founder of Stillwater Artisanal. Organic relationships developed between the Twelve Percent team and emerging craft breweries like Stillwater, Evil Twin, Fat Orange Cat, and Westbook, the project’s priorities shifted from imports to incubating small stateside breweries.
While contract brewing is common in today’s brewing world, symbiotic relationships like those between Twelve Percent and its partner breweries are not. Rather than simply rent out production space, Twelve Percent assists with brand development, scaling up production, distribution logistics, and more. “We’re not a contract facility in the terms of that someone can come and use our brewhouse and then they’re back on their own,” states co-founder Bridget Blank. “It sounds cliché, but I do think of ourselves as all on the same team as our breweries.”
Fortunately, Twelve Percent recently switched up their GA distribution game, and they’re now sending us even more, even fresher beers than ever before! Read on to learn all about this week’s new new as well as year-round staff favorites from this stellar beer collective!
Twelve Percent Sampler Sixpack $29.99/6pk
Try out all 6 new arrivals this week with this special variety pack! Each pack includes one 16oz can each of:
Abomination Everyday Fog Motueka (DDH DIPA w/ Mosaic, Pacific Jade, Citra, Summit & Enigma, 7.1%)
Abomination Rotting Earth (DDH DIPA w/ Nelson, Mosaic, Ariana, Pacific Jade, Motueka & Citra, 9.3%)
Fat Orange Cat Baby Kittens with Galaxy (Hazy IPA w/ Galaxy, 6.5%)
Hoof-Hearted 1-800-DoubleDouble-XtraXtra-FrootieFrootie-BiggieBiggie-JuicyJuicy (Hazy Triple IPA w/ Cashmere, Citra, Mosaic, Waimea & Motueka, 10%)
Off Color Apex Predator (Saison w/ honey malt & Crystal hops, 6.5%)
Timber Ales / The Seed She Who Walks Among Monsters (Imperial Stout conditioned on vanilla beans, coffee & cassia bark, 12%)
Stillwater Extra Dry $11.99/4pk
Clean, crisp, bright, and floral, this saison is designed to mimic the subtle and drinkable flavors of saké. Brewed with pilsner malt and rice, and lightly dry-hopped with Hallertau Blanc and Citra, this has been a Hop City fave for some time now!
Evil Twin Even More Jesus $19.99/4pk
With a thick fudge-like body, pitch black color, and amazingly overwhelming aromas of chocolate, coffee, dark fruits and muscovado sugar, Even More Jesus is a big, classic, sought-after stout. Haven’t tried it yet? What are you waiting for?!
