Dear Taproom Friend & Baird Beer Enthusiast:

As you know, hops are dear to the hearts of the brewers of Baird Beer.  We simply love hop character in beer.  The hop is so important to us, in fact, that we have decided to designate  May as “Hop Madness Month,”  and to celebrate it through the release of sixteen different varieties of hop-forward beer.   The May Hop Madness Month beer menu reads as follows:

May Hop Madness Month Baird Beer Menu:

1. Bohemian Pale Ale (5.0%): Saaz hops and floor-malted Bohemian barley (handpump) 
2. Spalter Golden Ale (4.7%):  Famous Spalter aroma hops from Germany
3. Summit IPA (6.7%):  These IPAs share the same recipe but a different US hop
4. Chinook IPA (6.7%):  These IPAs share the same recipe but a different US hop
5. Columbus IPA (6.7%):  These IPAs share the same recipe but a different US hop
6. Nelson Sauvin IPA (6.7%):  Same IPA recipe, different New Zealand hop 
7. Daidai IPA (6.5%):  Fruited & dry-peeled IPA
8. Teikoku IPL (6.5%):  Our Year-round IPA fermented with our lager yeast
9. Continental IPA (6.7%):  Double dry-hopped with 4 continental European hops
10. Triple-Dry Bohemian Pils (5.7%):  Triple dry-hopped Bohemian-style Pilsner
11. Suruga Bay Belgian Imperial IPA (7.7%):  Belgian yeast fermented Suruga Bay
12. Belgian Strong Pale Ale (8.0%):  Dry-hopped with 6 European hop varieties
13. 4-C Strong Pale Ale (6.0%):  Hopping with Columbus, Chinook, Citra, Cascade
14. 4-S Belgian Blonde Ale (5.5%):  Hopping with Sterling, Santiam, Saaz, Styrian Gold
15. Hop Havoc Imperial Pale Ale (6.2%):  90 IBU pale ale that is double dry-hopped
16. Red Hop Ale (5.7%):  Hoppy American-style Red Ale (handpump)

We are kicking off May Hop Madness Month with today’s general release of the following two beers:  Daidai IPA and Teikoku IPL.

New Baird Beer Seasonal Releases:

*Daidai IPA (ABV 6.5%):

Daidai is an extremely aromatic and tartly sour local citrus fruit that we marry together with three powerfully fruity varieties of American hops:  Citra, Simcoe and Chinook.  65 bittering units of hops in the kettle provide a magnificent stage for the daidai  fruit performance that happens in the whirlpool (juice and peels) and then again in the conditioning tank (dry-peeling).  The result is magnificent — an IPA like no other.

Daidai IPA is available in both kegs and bottles (630 ml) and will be pouring from taps all over Japan (including our own Taprooms) beginning Tuesday, May 1.

*Teikoku IPL (ABV 6.5%):

Teikoku IPA, of course, is our year-round India Pale Ale whose signature character derives from the deft combination of three varieties of earthy and spicy aroma hops — Kent Goldings from England, Styrian Goldings from Slovenia, and Glacier from the United States.  A robust malt backbone courtesy of floor-malted Maris Otter barley from England makes Teikoku an extraordinarily balanced and thoughtful IPA.

Teikoku IPL is the lager version of Teikoku IPA — we ferment it with our Numazu Lager yeast rather than our house ale yeast.  Drinking the two (IPA and IPL) side by side provides a wonderful edification in the flavor differences derived from a single source — yeast. 

Teikoku IPA also is available in both kegs and bottles (630 ml) and will be pouring from taps all over Japan (including our own Taprooms) beginning Tuesday, May 1.

May Hop Madness Month @ Baird Beer Taprooms:

During the month of May, all sixteen of the hop-forward beers on the May Hop Madness Baird Beer Menu above will be on tap at one time or another at all four of the Baird Beer Taproom pubs.  The Nakameguro and Bashamichi Taprooms will devote five taps at all times to a rotation of the Hop Madness beers; the Harajuku and Fishmarket Taprooms will be pouring 2 to 4 varieties at any one time.  Each Taproom will be blogging regularly about the daily lineup of Hop Madness beers that will be pouring from its taps. 

There will be available at each Taproom stamp cards that we call the May Hop Madness Baird Beer Card.   Any customer who enjoys all sixteen varieties and thus completes the stamp card before the end of May will receive his or her choice of a free Baird Beer T-shirt or Baird Beer logo glass (any variety).  The May Hop Madness Taproom Baird Beer Card can be used at any of our four Taproom locations.  It is not a pre-paid card.  You may receive one at any Taproom beer counter beginning May 1– just ask a staff member.

Cheers to the Hop!

Bryan Baird