In a play on “Star Wars,” 21st Amendment Brewery, San Francisco, and lauded family-owned hop farm CLS Farms teamed up for a limited-edition Imperial IPA brewed with innovative hops grown in the premier hop region of Yakima Valley in Washington State. Close Encounters of a Hop Kind (8.5% ABV) “transports beer drinkers far beyond typical Double IPAs with CLS Farms’ extraterrestrial proprietary hop varieties: El Dorado, Zappa®, and the brand new, never before used X-14. Handcrafted out of a love for experimental hops, Close Encounters of a Hop Kind is a deceptively easy-drinking DIPA,” the companies said.
21st Amendment is an open-door brewery that welcomes collaborations with industry professionals they admire. In turn, CLS Farms offers 21st Amendment exclusive access to world-renowned hops so 21st Amendment Co-Founder and Brewmaster Shaun O’Sullivan can be inventive with how he approaches the hottest beer styles.
“Discovering new and experimental hops is a driving energy behind the excitement for craft beer. Our friends Eric and Shelley Desmarais at CLS Farms along with their family and crew are at the tip of the spear with hop innovation and exploring new varietals. That innovation brings our collaboration to a higher level. Close Encounters with its light haze and deep straw color has flavor and aroma bursts of tropical, stone fruit, lime, melon, and purple, that’s right purple. All those flavors wrapped and tucked into a double IPA in a 16 ounce can, well, we can all definitely dig that,” says O’Sullivan.
The new Close Encounters of a Hop Kind will be available this summer in 16 oz. can 4-packs and on draft in all 34 states where 21st Amendment distributes.