this weekend: a CAN RELEASE and the launch of DELIVERY SERVICE

Going forward I’ve decided to post updates here, as it creates a record for folks to reference/link. This same content will simultaneously go out to my mailing list, so subscribe there if you’d like to get updates in your inbox.

Today I’m going to address Friday’s can release, and the beginning, on Saturday, of delivery service.

First up: tomorrow (Friday, March 20th) I’ll be releasing three new beers in 4-pks of 16oz cans for those who wish to come pick-up at the brewery. From 4-7pm, I’ll be seated in front of my cellar to sell you 4pks and loudly demand everyone PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING. If you must line up, please do so at 6ft intervals.

Credit/debit cards or mobile payments only. DO NOT come if you’re feeling unwell or voted for Trump.

The address is 8103 8th Ave S, Seattle, WA.

Second: this weekend MIRAGE will become more than a one-man (and sometimes his Dad) show, at least for the era of social distancing, as I’m going to be deploying a team of our region’s recently-furloughed brewers and taproom employees to launch the MIRAGE delivery service. (The store page will be empty until launch.)

Delivery will begin this Saturday, March 21st. Ordering will launch here tomorrow (Friday, March 20th) at 9AM, with order deliveries available to be scheduled for as early as the next morning. The date and time window of delivery are up to you: you’ll set everything during the checkout process. This will be a no-touch “porch drop” system with an ID check.

Order minimums, for now, will be $40. Orders for less than $40 will be refunded. And if you live near a MIRAGE stockist, buy your order to-go from them! Please only use the MIRAGE delivery service if your local MIRAGE stockist has suspended business.

This service will be provisional, obviously, depending on advisories from our state and/or city authorities, feedback from my team, and the availability of masks/gloves/sani. Our top priority here is herd safety. Please DO NOT order delivery if anyone in your household is feeling unwell.

Again, a link to the DELIVERY SERVICE. It’s also linked on my homepage. Click/refresh it Friday at 9AM.

And finally, some information on the new beers:

LANAI CAM is a kellerpils brewed with the palest-possible German pilsner malt, Waimea hops in the boil and whirlpool, and fermented cold with an infamously-difficult strain of Munich lager yeast. It’s crisp, aromatic, and rough around the edges in all the ways I want from a kellerbier. At 4.7% ABV, it’s perfect for watching waves at the Cove in Seaside, even if just from home, via the Lanai Motel’s webcam feed.

PURPLE TAPE is a NE-style double IPA brewed with all-NW ingredients, including a new variety of pale barley grown and malted in the Skagit Valley, flaked Oregon oats, and wheat from British Columbia. Hopped with the whirlpool with Strata (OR), it was later double-dry-hopped with more Strata and Amarillo-cryohops from the Yakima Valley. 8.2% ABV. Aromatic notes of candied oranges and idk how else to say it so: weed. Lots of freshly-cured weed.

FANTASY WORLD is a tribute to the flagship IPA at Buoy Beer Co. in Astoria, OR. Unlike that beer, a modern West Coast IPA, this IPA is (of course) a NE-style IPA, but they share heavy doses of Oregon-grown Meridian and Crystal hops.

I first had the Buoy IPA with my Dad right after Kevin Shaw, their head brewer (and a personal hero), interviewed me for a brewer position, and it’s a sense memory I’ve chased ever since. That pint somehow evoked every part of a grapefruit: a bright near-sweetness like zested peel, a bit of the pith’s bitterness, and that juicy-tang thing happening in its flesh. I had to learn how it was made, so when Kevin offered me the job, I jumped and moved cross-country to the Oregon Coast.

For this tribute, I used Meridian and Strata (a newer Oregon aroma hop) in the whirlpool, and later double-dry-hopped the beer mid-fermentation with a little more Strata and tons of that Oregon-grown Meridian and Crystal. It came out at 6.5% ABV, a touch lighter than Buoy’s 7.5%, and since this is an adjunct-heavy/NE-style incarnation, dials up the body twofold.

I think that’s everything?

Michael