Dear Taproom Friend & Baird Beer Enthusiast:

The time for the 2006 debut of The Carpenter’s Mikan Ale is upon us. It will be poured from the Fishmarket Taproom’s taps beginning today (Friday, March 10).

This year marks the sixth annual release of The Carpenter’s Mikan Ale. As the name suggests, it is an ale made with fresh mikans (a tangerine-like Japanese fruit). We receive the mikans as a gift from the Heda orchard of our carpenter friend, partner and mentor — Mitsuo Nagakura. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he is the complete embodiment of the dedicated, uncompromising and passionate Japanese craftsmen whom we so respect and whom we strive to emulate. The Carpenter’s Mikan Ale is our modest attempt to pay tribute to Nagakura-san as well as to all great Japanese craftsmen.

The 2006 Carpenter’s Mikan Ale is both piquantly tart and satiatingly sweet. Loads of freshly peeled and crushed mikans (70 Kg in this 500 liter batch) are added to the wort at the completion of boiling. The beer is dry-hopped in the conditioning tank with additions of the citrusy American hop Cascade. The beer has a fairly high original gravity (15.7 Plato) and thus sports a sneakingly potent alcohol punch (approximately 6.1% by volume).

In the glass, The Carpenter’s Mikan Ale introduces itself with a densely creamy snow-white head. The color is a captivatingly turbid orange-amber hue that is almost spellbinding in its organic honesty. The nose features the exhilaratingly delicate aroma of freshly peeled mikans and something else citrus — Cascade hops? In the mouth, one sensation above all holds sway — effervescent freshness! The finish is mysteriously ephemeral; the beer vanishes leaving the taste buds standing at attention in an alert state of pleasurable surrender, as if coyly imploring, “More, please!”

The Carpenter’s Mikan Ale will be available in limited quantities in both kegs and bottles from The Fishmarket Taproom as well as from select Baird Beer retailers.

Cheers,
Baird Brewing Company & Fishmarket Taproom