The day is almost here! We can hardly contain our excitement for our official release of Double Tapped DIPA, our newest collaboration beer with The Virginia Beer Company!
Collaborations between breweries and restaurants are becoming more and more common. It provides both parties to craft up an idea for a beer that will resonate to the fans of craft beer and their patrons. We previously collaborated with another Virginia brewery back in October to gage how this concept would be received, and it went over very well! But there wasn’t much involvement other than choosing a set beer style we were interested in brewing. It was a real solid black IPA, by the way. We wanted to take this collaboration concept to another level! We wanted to dive into a beer that WE created, and a style that we favor. We wanted to brew a DIPA! So how do we get this opportunity? Enter The Virginia Beer Company (VBC).
We couldn’t be happier to have worked hand in hand with the crew at VBC. From ownership down, the crew is the real deal! We learned quickly that they not only were the right fit for what we were trying to brew, but also share the same business values as Tapped.
We started our process creating a recipe by getting one of our beer geeks, Dean “DJ” Kohler and VBC brew-master, Jonathan Newman together. Jonathan had the malt bill ready from day one due to much success with previous brews. A combination of 2-row, malted wheat, and golden naked oats allowed for a soft body and mouth feel for the beer. This allows the hops to really have the limelight! DJ and Jonathan both agreed on an English yeast strain, which would palate a fruit essence to the beer.
Grain bill, check.
Yeast, check.
Bring on the hops!!
This is the part DJ had fun with! He wanted to go with a beer that had balance through and through. With a fruity yeast, hop selection was important to achieve the balance he was looking for. He went with a blend of Nelson Sauvin, Citra, and Simcoe hops. Nelson hops for the pick-up flavor of passion fruit, Citra for the tropical aroma of mango, pineapple, and papaya, and Simcoe to balance out the fruit with a piney, wood flavor profile. Jonathan enhanced these flavorful hops with the idea of adding some Simcoe Lupulin powder! Uumm…hell yes! What’s Lupulin powder you ask?
Lupulin is the fine powder inside hops. It holds the resin compounds and oils that are essential for hop flavor and aroma. Lupulin “Powder” is a purified concentrate of those oils, allowing brewers to grab hold of those intense hop flavors without the vegetal flavoring that comes with using whole hops. So pretty much ‘awesomeness’ powder! The addition of the powder during the brewing process was essential to the balance profile we set to achieve. Recipe complete!
Brew day was on February 7th, 2018! The Tapped crew went up to VBC to get a hands on experience in brewing our beer. Jonathan was absolutely amazing as he walked us through the steps of brewing, but also put us to work! We were hands on with the mash, literally, from start to finish. DJ weighed out the hops and added them into the boil, along with the addition of the Simcoe powder! And after a long day it was transferred to the fermenting tank where it went to settle and the beer would take charge, hopefully ending with our vision. To make certain we achieved our idea for a bad ass DIPA, we double dry-hopped our beer! Thus, Double Tapped was born! A name that suits the beer, and our brand! Our brew holds an ABV of 8%, pure smoothness!
Double Tapped turned out AMAZING! All reviews have pointed out EXACTLY what we wanted out of our beer, a balanced, smooth, juicy, and hoppy DIPA. It’s a true example of a beer that represents not only a beer savvy restaurant, but a quality brewery, both focused on providing the best of the best! This was a one of a kind experience and has only paved a road for more collaborations for Tapped in the future! The VBC crew/family has left some big shoes to fill for any future collaborations moving forward. A special shout out to Michael, Chris, and Robbie at VBC for making this beer go from a thought to a pint!
Double Tapped will be making its Tapped debut at both locations (Crafthouse & Gastropub) this Friday, March 30th! We know you will love it as much as we do!
Cheers!