From Notch:
Jon Langford has been my rock hero for as long as I can remember. For those who don’t know him, which is most of you, he’s had a prolific career as a musician and artist. Since starting the Mekons in the late 70’s he’s amassed a catalog of work that has always been engaging, challenging, relevant, and for the most part, unnoticed by the masses. He was ahead of his time on every account, and watched as everyone else cashed in on the trends he help build. But throughout his long career, Langford has always created something true to his legacy.
So I found myself at Atwood’s Tavern in early April on a Thursday night to watch him on tour in support of his new album. Atwood’s is not a big room, and I wondered what it’s like for a guy with a 35 year career to play to 50 people on a Thursday night, and then sell merch and artwork after the show to help fund the tour, only to get in the van the next morning and do the same the next night, and many nights thereafter.
It took me while, but I realized it’s what he does. It’s what we all do, in some way. I was really inspired to see someone carry on with what they love when they are all but certain the huge payout is never happening. Yes it is art, but at the end of the day it needs to be commerce so that you can wake up and be able to do it all over again, without a side job or a trust fund. But to do it entirely on your own terms, without pandering to any group or demo to sell units? That’s a life well lived.
When I released Left of the Dial IPA last year, it was after much deliberation. IPA is not my most beloved style of beer, so why would I brew one under Notch? Because the loyal Notch fans were asking for it, and I knew it was my opportunity to brew an IPA totally on my terms. I think IPAs, for the most part, are lazy brewing from a business perspective. You are pretty well assured a certain volume of beer to sell just by having IPA on the label. It is the Pavlov’s dog equivalent for beer consumers – ring the IPA bell and just wait. For me, I just didn’t see it as a creative outlet. But as one fellow brewer asked me when I was contemplating releasing Left of the Dial year round, “you do want to make money, right?”
So Left of the Dial was hatched due to consumer request, but it would not be contrived to fit a demo or pander to ratings and forums. If we fail by doing it on our terms, I can live with that. And if it is successful, it will help us get back in the van the next morning and brew something totally different (like the Berliner Weisse I’ve been promising for 3 years). Someday we’ll get our act together and sell merch too.
So what about the beer? I have more detail in last year’s blog HERE if you choose, but man you’ve already slogged this far so bookmark it for later. The beer recipe remains the same, but the hops have been adjusted based on last year’s release. The reality is that the hops will be adjusted on an ongoing basis, as the new hop varieties have a good deal of variability year over year. One hop I used last year and loved was not up to standards this year. Smelling cat urine over three to four pints is not my thing, so that hop variety was reduced GREATLY (not totally, but pulled way back) in this year’s Left of the Dial. You will notice the difference, and yes, some popular hops do smell like a cat box!
So what to expect from Left of the Dial? The same hop flavor and soft bitterness, with an aroma of pine and resin. Admittedly, the first wave of Left of the Dial will not have the degree of hop aroma impact I planned for, so that will be gradually pumped up over the next two months. I’m brewing on a different system than last year’s Left of the Dial, and it will take a few brews to dial in the aroma exactly, but we will get there.
The flavor of the beer, however, is right where I want it. And if you are looking for Left of the Dial to mimic a 7% IPA, you are on the wrong blog. This is session beer, and mimicking a 7% IPA is not the point. No sweet, no fatigue, no aspirin bitterness. You will get a big juicy malt character from the British base malt Golden Promise, which leads to a dry finish from our hard water and accentuates the hop flavor. I know it’s odd to be talking about how great the malt tastes in an IPA, but that’s how I want this beer to set up—juicy malt that finishes crisp when the beer is cold, and fuller and richer as it warms and hangs around over the session. That’s right, a beer designed not for a two ounce sample, or a snifter, or a taster, or ratings, or reviews, but for MULTIPLE PINTS. It’s session beer, for f’s sake. It’s what we do!
Look for Left of the Dial IPA in 12 ounces cans, in 6 & 12 packs, as well as draft YEAR ROUND. It will be available throughout Massachusetts as of this week, and released in Maine sometime in May. Don’t see it? ASK for it!
No bottles of Left of the Dial? No bottles. Why? Stability. We found that with our Session Pils the beer stayed closer to the intended flavor profile for a longer period of time in the can (it tasted fresher for longer). So when releasing a hoppy beer, we wanted to use the best package possible. We will also be retiring the bottle offering of Notch Session Pils, and moving that to 6 pack and 12 pack cans. It’s no secret I wanted to offer Notch in cans on day one, but we were only afforded that option recently, so we are starting a transition to a more session beer friendly package.
So welcome Left of the Dial IPA, and welcome the rest of the brewing world who finally woke up to the joys of session beer. It really is more fun left of the dial.
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