“Well, you guys seem like a great family. We have to be realistic. I’m in the real estate business. It’s 2006. That’s all good enough for me. We’re gonna put you in a NINJA loan. No income, no job, no assets. And you don’t have to pay a penny for two years.” – James
“Oh NINJA please! So we’ll take something cozy and intimate. A one bedroom.” – Tobias
“Or bigger.” – Lindsay
“Yeah, how about something nice? A three bedroom?” – James
“Oh, it definitely is.” – Tobias
“You have to remember that this was a time when banks were eager to create as much debt as possible.” – Narrator
– Arrested Development

Now available at Daft Brewing – Ninja Loan, our latest New England IPA

“We decided to call this beer Ninja Loan, because much like the banks in the early 2000s that offered subprime mortgages,” CEO Adam Rondeau said reflecting on the name choice, “our head brewer, Ryan, continues to provide us with subprime beer.”

Ninja Loan is made with a combination of three big, juicy, new world hops: Lemondrop, Belma, and Idaho #7. These create a super juicy beer full of tropical and citrus flavors. At 6% ABV there is a nice smooth body (oOoo! mouthfeel :P) to balance out the hop bitterness. A huge addition of oats and wheat create a persistent haze that is essential for this style, since the delicate hop compounds attach themselves to the haze and deliver those tasty tropical fruit notes to your dome. This is why Ryan is a self-proclaimed “hazy-boi.”

“Ninja Loan has a smooth and creamy mouthfeel, with lots of citrus flavour,” explained Head of Describing Things, Nathan, “You will notice heavy apricot and grapefruit flavors. These flavors come straight from the hops, as there are no fruit additions to this beer.”

Ninja Loan is now pouring on draft and available to-go in the bottleshop at Daft Brewing. 

Jake (in a helicopter): THIS. IS. AWESOME. Just so we’re clear from this point forward by call sign will be Deathblade
Charles: And I’ll be Rum Tum Tugger
Jake: No Boyle. No characters from Cats. Dig deep. Think of something scary
Charles: Adolf Hitler
Jake: NO! You’ll be Sidewinder
Charles: I’m more scared of Hitler
– Brooklyn 99

Now available at Daft Brewing and the Kingston Brewing Company – Rum Tum Tugger, our Dark and Stormy Sour.

When asked to comment on this beer, CEO Adam Rondeau stated inappropriately that, “If Ryan was a crewman on Captain Rum Tum’s ship, I can guess what his job description would be.” (Editors note: This is the cleanest quote we could get out of Adam)

Some of our fans may remember that Rum Tum Tugger was one of the first beers made by Daft in collaboration with KBC for the final Kingston Craft Beer festival held at the Brooklyn in 2019. As has been a common occurrence that people who frequent Daft’s bottleshop are familiar with, we struggled to keep up with the demand and promptly sold out.

Rum Tum Tugger is inspired by one of our favorite cocktails – the Dark and Stormy. The beer is made with a hearty addition of fresh hand peeled ginger (which was definitely done with great enthusiasm by staff who definitely volunteered for this task without any threats or coercion) and Limu Omani, a middle eastern dried lime, in a sour beer base that is aged on dark rum oak. 

When you first set your eyes on a glass of Rum Tum Tugger, the first thing you will notice is that it has a darker appearance than most sours. We used darker malts to give it a deep copper color that is topped with a white head that laces the glass. 

“Rum Tum Tugger actually has a higher ABV than what you would traditionally find in sours,” Star of the Brewery Nathan explained, “This will give you a slight warming feeling when you take a sip. On the front end of the beer you will find a mild tartness and ginger flavour up front with a hint of lime that gradually transitions into subtle oak and rum on the back end. The finish is very crisp, which makes this an easy drinker, which can be deceiving because of the higher ABV.”

Rum Tum Tugger can be found on tap and in the bottle shop at Daft Brewing and on tap at Kingston Brewing Company. Make sure to stop by and try this latest release before it tugs its way out of here.

Releasing today at Daft Brewing, we have a classic east vs west coast rivalry brewing with our latest drops – Biggie, a New England IPA, and Tupac, a West Coast IPA.

The Cause

We have been learning, reading, and listening the past few weeks. To be honest, we weren’t sure how to respond. We want to use our platform in a meaningful way. In the end, we chose to tie our support to the release of two new beers (since that’s all we really do). The namesake of these beers, Christopher “Biggie” Wallace and Tupac Shakur, are two of the most influential artists in the last century. Their stories are representative of the injustices that many Black communities face today. 

Here is an excerpt from season 3 of the Slow Burn podcast, which digs into the lives and deaths of Biggie and Tupac:

“You have two guys, two of the brightest stars to emerge out of the hip-hop era in that time, and they’re gone, just like that,” Joel Anderson, the Slow Burn host, says. “And if those two guys can get killed and nothing can happen, then what does that say for the rest of us? As you see, it’s not like we’ve been able to solve that problem.”

We will be donating $2000 from the profits of Biggie and Tupac to the Ontario-based Black Legal Action Centre (link below).

We are trying to learn more about these issues every day. We hope that we can help foster a more equitable world. Until then, we will continue to try to be better. Below are a few resources that we found enlightening and, at times, uncomfortable, including the podcast mentioned above. We would love to hear from you if you have any other resources that you love!

Resources:

Slow Burn podcast about Biggie and Tupac – more info can be found here. https://www.npr.org/2019/11/07/776908450/slow-burn-season-3-turns-its-investigative-eye-to-the-murders-of-biggie-and-tupa

“13th” documentary on Black criminalization can be found on Netflix, here. https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/80091741

“The Skin We’re In” documentary, here. https://www.cbc.ca/firsthand/m_episodes/the-skin-were-in

Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC), more info can be found here. https://www.blacklegalactioncentre.ca/

The Beer

These two beers are the first styles that jump to mind when discussing IPAs. The difference between the two have long been a topic of discussion during our late night virtual beer and cheese pairings, and head brewer Ryan is finally delivering on his drunken claims that he would eventually release these two beers side by side.

When asked what inspired the East coast vs West Coast double release, CEO Adam Rondeau gave a little shrug before explaining “I was confident that if Ryan brewed two beers for a double release that at least one of the beers would be palatable..” Staring off into the distance as he trailed off Adam let out a sigh, “But it’s humbling to be able to admit my incorrect assumptions and errors in judgement.”

When you first set your eyes on Biggie you will notice you can’t even see through the beer thanks to its haziness. This was done using a combination of water chemistry and oats to add protein to the beer, giving it a smooth and creamy mouthfeel. The haze captures the flavour and aroma of our heavy dry hop addition of Mosaic, Citra, and Sabro. The result is a super juicy beer bursting with tropical flavours. 

Biggie is very similar in colour and mouthfeel to Bingpot, but because of the different hops used it has a completely different flavour.

Hailing from the west, Tupac is one of the first American beer styles which was a driving force behind the craft beer revolution when it launched in the late 80s and early 90s. Tupac is much more clear than its counterpart from the east. With a heavy hop addition during the boil, this beer is more on the bitterside, but a malty base helps to bring balance to the beer and prevent the bitterness from overwhelming the senses. Tupac has a heavy dose of traditional west coast hops to give it that classic dank citrus and piney notes. Specifically, this beer is hopped with Cascade, Simcoe, and El Dorado.

Biggie and Tupac are flowing on the taps and available in the Daft bottle shop now. Swing by to enjoy a pint on our patio or grab a few bottles to enjoy at home before they are gone.

“This. Castle. Is in…Unacceptable. Condition. UUUNNNNAAACCCCCCEEEPPPTTTAAABBBLLLEEE” 
– Lemongrab, Adventure Time

Releasing today at Daft Brewing – Lemongrab, our mint lemonade sour.

Lemongrab is Daft Brewing’s first beer to be created and produced by our assistant to the regional brewer, Adelaide “Potato” O’Hara.

“All I can say is we should have turned over brewing responsibilities to Addie a lot earlier,” CEO Adam Rondeau said “I can’t tell you how happy I am to finally taste something we brewed here that isn’t undrinkable swill.”

Lemongrab is a sour beer brewed with malted barley and wheat and additions of lactose, fresh mint, and an unacceptably large number of lemons. Because, when life gives you lemons, make alcohol. 

Shortly after sitting down to provide information for this blog, Addie trailed off in mid sentence, staring out the bay door and letting out a squeal, pointing to an adorable three-legged dog outside of the brewery.

Now focused again, Addie said “Honestly, I just love the Adventure Time character Lemongrab and how he yells all the time. He’s essentially my spirit animal. So from the start I knew what I was going to name the beer, and just had to work on a recipe to fit the name.” Head Brewer, Ryan, later expressed how proud he is of Addie’s thoughtful recipe development process.

The resulting beer is bursting with lemon and has nice undertones of mint. Lemongrab is a refreshing summer beer with a creamy mouthfeel and a crisp and light finish. The acidity and lactose sugar is nicely balanced and finishes with a hint of mint. Lemongrab is reminiscent of chugging an ice cold minty lemonade. 

We looked for Ryan to get his opinion on his protege’s first beer, and after a long search he was found huddled under a tank muttering to himself “One day they will learn to appreciate me… One day I’ll show them all.” After this, we quietly backed away and decided to let him have some time alone.

Lemongrab is available now in Daft’s bottle shop. Make sure to grab a bottle quickly, because it is unacceptable how quickly this beer will sell out.

“Wait for the ramp Morty…they love the slow ramp. It really gets their d*cks hard when they see the ramp just slowly extending down. GREETINGS!”
Rick flips off the crowd
“Morty, you’ve got to flip them off, I told them it means ‘Peace among worlds’ how hilarious is that?”
– Rick, Rick and Morty

Releasing today at Daft Brewing – Slow Ramp, our Paloma Gose

“Slow Ramp was the perfect name for this beer, as the variety of flavours slowly ramp up and build to a grand crescendo as you journey through this delightful gose, ” CEO Adam Rondeau explained, “It also accurately captures the pace of Ryan’s journey into becoming a barely adequate brewmaster.”

“Slow Ramp is the second in Daft Brewing’s Umami series, with the first release being our True Level. The goal of the Umami series is to tie in that mythical fifth flavour, which is basically unheard of in beer today. Umami is depth of flavour. It provides a satisfying complexity that ties together other flavours. For example, when you’re cooking at home and your dish is missing something that you can’t quite place…it’s probably umami. I use all natural ingredients to add umami in this beer.” Head Brewer Ryan rambled almost incoherently, “I am most proud of the umami series because of the technical difficulty in creating something this unique and exciting, and because it is exactly the innovative style in which I make sure Daft excels.” he continued, making sure to get a quote in that allowed him to toot his own horn.

Similar to True Level, Slow Ramp is a sour beer made with Aji Amarillo peppers, pink Himalayan salt, and tequila oak. What sets it apart is the addition of grapefruit and lemon, instead of lime. The result is a delicious and refreshing but complex beer that is a delicate balance between the five basic flavours. This beer is reminiscent of a Paloma, which is a refreshing traditional Mexican cocktail. 

“On your first sip you will notice the grapefruit and lemon that quickly transitions into subtle peppers and oak. After a couple sips you will notice the hint of sea salt and an essence of spiciness.” Nathan wisely explained, “It has a creamy and complex mouthfeel and finishes with a refreshing crispness and light acidity.”

Drawing inspiration from the name of the beer, Lindsay, Ryan’s wife, responded with her middle finger held high when asked to give her thoughts on Ryan’s latest work.

Slow Ramp is available now in Daft’s bottle shop. Make sure to grab a bottle quickly because, unlike the slowly extending ramp it was named after, these will be speeding off the shelves.

“Well, well, well. Time for another raid. Time to swing the old sword again”
Sword drops over the side of the boat
“The sea giveth, and the sea taketh away. And this time the sea tooketh my sword.”
– Orm, Norsemen

Available now at Daft Brewing, Another Raid, our kveik lager.

“Orm was the perfect inspiration for the name of this newest release, as we feel he perfectly parallels the level of competence we have come to expect from our head brewer Ryan.” CEO Adam Rondeau had to say about the inspiration for the name behind this latest release.

“This level of confidence and support is exactly why I’ve been stealing from the company,” Ryan mumbled under his breath when he thought no one was listening.

Another Raid is made with a grain bill of mostly pilsner malt, resulting in a light coloured beer with high clarity and a creamy white head. This beer has a slightly higher ABV, coming in at 5.8% which produces a slight warming feeling when you drink it.

The ABV in this spring edition is higher than normal summer lagers, because Ryan wants to capture the spirit of a traditional German spring lager, such as a maibock. This spring lager is halfway between a higher alcohol winter beer and a light, crisp summer beer – resulting in a refreshing and subtle warming lager. The next edition is already lagering in the tanks with a 4.9% ABV and will be a more traditional light summer lager.

“What sets the kveik lager apart from other traditional lagers is that this strain of yeast can handle high temperatures and lots of stress. A typical lager yeast has to be fermented between 10-13 degrees Celsius to avoid off-flavors, but the kveik lager yeast will happily ferment at higher temperatures and produce subtle tropical fruit flavors. In the first couple sips you will get a crisp, malty flavour but after that, if you pay close attention, you will pick up on these subtle tropical notes.” Nathan insightfully added.

Attempts to reach Ryan’s wife, Lindsay, for comment have gone unreturned at the time of publication of this blog.

Another Raid is available now in Daft’s bottle show. Make sure to grab a bottle before our shelves are pillaged.

“I’m not going to enroll in that clown college though, that advertisement had no effect on me whatsoever.”
*Later that night at dinner with his family*
“That’s it, you people have stood in my way long enough. I’m going to clown college!”
– Homer Simpson, The Simpsons

Available now at Daft Brewing, Clown College, our Cranberry Ginger Lager.

“As with our other beers, we looked for the perfect pop culture reference for the name of this new launch.” CEO Adam Rondeau explained, “We chose a classic Simpson’s reference as in the inspiration for this one. We thought it fitting because the name also doubles as a shout out to our brewer Ryan’s education.”  

Clown College is made with a grain bill of pilsner malt and secrets tightly guarded by Ryan. It is brewed with moderate amounts of real ginger and cranberries to give it added complexity. The beer is a golden color with a light red/pink hue and has a creamy white head that may have a slight red hue to it. After putting in seconds of strenuous effort, including turning the flashlight on his phone on, Ryan remains undecided about this fact.

“The first thing you will notice about Clown College is a heavy whiff of ginger on the nose with a slight cranberry note on the back end. This beer is like the little sister of our original ginger beer, the Soulless Ginger, in that the ginger is much less in your face. It’s light and crisp, with initial malty and bready flavors that evolve into mild ginger and subtle cranberry notes.” Nathan was able to helpfully say.

When asked to give her thoughts on Ryan’s latest creation, Lindsay, Ryan’s wife, said “Ugh, I don’t know. It’s a beer with ginger and cranberry. What do they expect? If they thought the last beer had too much ginger maybe they’ll like this?”

Clown College is available now in Daft’s bottle shop. Make sure to grab this delicious summer brew before it juggles its way off our shelves.

Holt: “Maybe we should take the chopper.”
Peralta: “Oh! You said chopper!”
Holt: “Deathblade! Sidewinder! It’s go time!”
Peralta: “Roger that Wet Blanket.”
Holt: “From now on call me….Velvet Thunder.”

Available now at Daft Brewing – Velvet Thunder, our Whiskey Sour Ale.

“We named this beer after Captain Raymond Holt because just like Holt, the beer is elegant, smooth, and sexy. Basically it embodies everything Ryan is not as a person.” Owner and CEO Adam Rondeau had this to say about this latest release.

Velvet Thunder is made with a grain bill of 2-row and wheat malt and brewed with Florida oranges, black tea, bourbon barrel oak. This brew is mildly soured, which adds more depth to the refreshing citrus notes. The finished beer has a deep copper colour and is bursting with the refreshing aroma of oranges. 

“The flavour is refreshing and citrusy initially, but evolves into complex and delicate black tea and bourbon barrel oak flavours. The body is light and effervescent with subtle tannins in the background from the tea and oak. Overall this beer is an easy drinking summer sipper with a complexity that makes it more interesting than your typical sour beer.” Nathan, the only Daft employee who has anything useful to offer, said.

Velvet Thunder has a creamy and long lasting head, which is one of the most technically challenging aspects of this beer because sour beer doesn’t typically have good head retention. When asked how he created this effect, Head Brewer Ryan Dhillon had a panicked look come over his eyes as he screamed “Secrets!” and ran away.

When reached to give her thoughts on Ryan’s latest beer, Lindsay, Ryan’s wife had this to say: “How did you get this number? Stop calling me!” and quickly hung up the phone.

Velvet Thunder is available now in the Daft Brewing bottle shop. Make sure to grab this tasty summer beer for you next sunny day out in the yard as this beer will be flying (like a helicopter, get it?) off the shelves.