From Ska: DURANGO, CO - Ska’s Seasonal Stout Series welcomes the northern hemisphere’s warm season with the summer release of Estival Cream Stout. Estival Cream Stout will be available starting on the summer solstice: Sunday, June 21st. A third-year offering, this refreshing but satisfying beer pioneered the summer stout category and is a favorite among beer fans whose friends make faces at them.
“Some people don’t think a summer stout makes sense, but we haven’t gotten to where we are by just doing what ‘makes sense’” said Bill Graham, Ska co-founder and Overlord of Brewing Operations. “Sometimes you have to be under the curve to be ahead of it. All we know is the entire seasonal stout category—especially summer stout—is going to catch fire at some point.”
According to Dave Thibodeau, Ska co-founder and President, the brewery doesn’t see markets the same way others might. “I look at the numbers, and I say okay, where is there more room for growth than in the summer seasonal stout category? Nowhere. Seasonal stouts are probably going to be the fastest-growing category in all of craft beer. Right?”
According to Steve Kurowski, marketing manager for the Colorado Brewers Guild, “There is no seasonal stout category. They’re the only ones doing that.”
Naysayers aside, Graham admits they’re not really looking at the numbers at all—“It’s summer, so we’re busy brewing delicious beers, and drinking them.” According to Graham, the stout’s orange peel citrus and subtle honey “goes really well with campfire smoke.”
The packaging for the Estival Cream Stout features a black, 12-oz. can, with Ska’s Pinstripe character emerging from a fiery citrus sun in what could be an allusion to the category’s sales potential. As with all four of the stouts in Ska’s Seasonal Stout series, this beer will be released in cans, and distributed in all of Ska’s markets.
Estival Cream Stout is 5.8% Alcohol By Volume (ABV), and, in keeping with the series’ solstice and equinox release dates, will be tapped on the summer solstice, Sunday June 21st. The release will double as a summer kickoff party and will be held from 1-4 pm at Ska World Headquarters in Bodo Park, an unheralded industrial park on the outskirts of Durango. The event will feature Father’s Day specials, live music from Afrobeatniks, lawn games and mouth-watering food pairings from The Container.
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