For the next Single Series beer, we bring you Zen Arcade. A hoppy American pale wheat beer that follows no stylistic guidelines whatsoever. It’s a departure from our norm, where we have brewed over 25 beers to date and almost all of them based on session styles from other beer brewing countries. Instead, Zen Arcade was brewed for a target taste profile – crisp, light, dry and wonderfully hoppy.
Speaking of wheat, we used hard red winter wheat grown in Monticello, Maine and malted at Valley Malt in Massachusetts. The rest of the grain is a combo of pils and other grains we like to use in our drier session beers. It’s hopped with Equinox, Citra and Mosaic, which provides a nice combo of fruit and floral aromas.
And the name? The name came from an intense marketing meeting, where Chris asked Zac and Mary Ellen “Can I name this beer after a Husker Du record?” It was a unanimous vote yes. The record Zen Arcade was a contradiction at the time. It was chock full of punk rock sonic fury, yet wrapped up in a concept record and presented in the form of a double album. It finished with a 14 minute instrumental jam. It made no sense at all, but it also made perfect sense. Kind of like this fun yet odd little beer we just dropped.
Zen Arcade won’t be around for long, so look for it on tap in the month of May. It’s draft only, so you’ll need to get off your couch, head to your local and converse with humankind. When June and summer finally make an appearance, we’ll be back to corn lager season.
