Brewery Release: Northwest: Coming Soon ... El Camino (Un)Real Dark Strong Ale
Press Release
SAN
LEANDRO
, CA (
October
X
, 2016
)
–
The story begins…i
t was an ordinary night that turned extraordinary when Mitch Steele, former
B
rewmaster of Stone Brewing
in Encinitas
, turned to Shaun O’Sullivan (Sully)
Brewmaster and Co-Founder
of 21
st
Amendment
Brewery
and said, “Let’s brew a beer!”
Legend has it that Sully,
thinking that was a fantastic ide
a, decided to seal the deal with an epic road trip along
“
T
he
R
oyal
H
ighway
”
(aka The El Camino Real)
that would take them from Encinitas, C
alifornia
to
the Bay Area
with a pit stop in Paso Robles to pick up Matt Brynildson
, Brewmaster at
Firestone Walker Brewing Company. While cruising the historical El Camino Real
(aka Highway 101)
,
havoc
ensu
ed
…
Matt made Sully sit in the middle, Mitch made them stop at midnight for Double-Doubles with
o
nion and Sully
made them take selfies at all 21 missions
along the way
. There was nothing on the radio but Jewish hip-hop and British punk-grass, causing Matt to start playing air banjo and Mitch to threaten to turn the car around. But then, Sully found an old mixtape in the back of the glove box and that’s when things
really got weird.
“Th
e
road trip is the creative motivation behind our
collaboration project
El Camino (Un)
Real,” s
ays Sully
.
“We
were driven
(pun intended
!
)
by
our
shared connection
to
the historical mission trail,
El Camino Real,
because fittingly, this route also links our three breweries together.
Music
plays a big
part of brewing great beer and you can’t have a road trip without music coming out of your car’s speakers.
”
First brewed and bottled by the three Brewmasters at Stone
B
rew
ing Company
in 2010, the beer makes a triumphant return this October, canned
in a new package, and brewed by the three
good
friends at 21
st
Amendment’s new San Leandro
brewery
.
“We wanted to get the band back together,” says Nico Freccia,
21
st
Amendment’s other
co-founder. “We
always loved the psychedelic flavor profile of this beer and
we
knew we wanted to brew
it
again
. And with putting this beer in a can, we had an opportunity to reimagine the story and packaging with some really cool new art. It turned into a dream-like road trip seeded in past childhood memories with hot wheel tracks, mix tapes and an El Camino.”
Channeling their mythical road trip, all three brewers put together a Spotify playlist that you can enjoy on your next highway adventure
or while k
ick
ing
back
and savoring
this rich beer
with friends and family
.
At 9.5% ABV
, El Camino (Un)Real
is a dark strong ale that drinks like an Imperial Stout with a hook – it has a firm bitterness and malt complexity with licorice, van
illa and higher alcohol esters. The incorporation of indigenous ingredients, grown along the trail in the 1700s and 1800s by missionaries and Native Americans, includes the addition of dried mission figs, pink peppercorns, fennel and chia seeds that together add a slight herbal, fruit and spice note built to pair with the malt and hop complexity.
This beer is big, drinks well and will age quite nicely.
El Camino (Un)Real
is available in 4-pack cans and on draft starting this week in all 25 of 21
st
Amendment’s current distribution territories, including CA, OR, WA, AK, ID, MN, OH, MA, NY, IL, NJ, DC, NV, DE, MD, FL, VT, RI, PA, NH, ME, VA, GA, SC and NC. 21
st
Amendment Brewery encourages you to pick up a pack and take a figurative trip down The Royal Highway. Be sure to stock up on supplies, this beer will age well. For up-to-date availability, events and promotions, visit www.21st-Amendment.com.