TEN SMALL-BATCH BEER RELEASES IN TEN DAYS

Check out this year’s lineup of beers, find out what inspired them, and the curated events we’re pairing them with.

SECOND RUNNINGS

Table Beer

Release Date: Thursday, February 13

  • The “table beer” is a very old style known by many other names. Sometimes called a small beer or small ale, this style originated (like so many beer styles did) during the Middle Ages.  This was an era when people of all ages drank beer, and in many places, the beer was safer to drink than local water because the water had been boiled during the brewing process, killing many pathogens.

    When larger breweries started producing table beers, they often used the “second runnings” from recipes that would have much higher alcohol content.  These second runnings stilled possessed some sugars, which could be fermented and converted into alcohol, too, but the number of sugars were lower, which created lower-ABV beers.

    While the inspiration for this beer’s name is self-explanatory based on the style’s history, it also speaks to the clever ways in which many brewers have learned to conserve resources, and as any homebrewer will tell you, fermenting every drop of wort definitely makes all time and effort worth it.

  • At some point in brewing history, a crafty and creative brewer decided to see what might happen if they used leftover wort (the sugar water created by the “mashing” process) to make a different beer. This gave rise to the use of “second runnings,” which has fallen out of fashion at the commercial level in modern times but is still employed by homebrewers determined to let nothing go to waste.

    Because we were once those homebrewers, and because we still love to hand out, talk shop, and meet with members of the Berkshire Homebrew Association, we’ve invited some of them to accompany the release of our table beer by providing some samples of their own creations as well.

    Start time: 7pm

    Collaborators: Berkshire Homebrewers Association

SLEEPING CUPID

Cherry Stout

Release Date: Friday, February 14

  • Compared with some European beer styles that are almost a thousand years old, stouts and porters are relatively newer styles that originated in the UK in the 1700s and started gaining popularity in the Balkans and Russia as well. Often brewed with roasted grains (and more of them), the term “stout” was used to describe these beers that were stronger than paler ales and lagers.

    Since its inception many centuries ago, stouts and/or porters (or “stout porters” as they were sometimes called), often exude dark chocolate or coffee flavors and aromas. Some even have notes of dried fruit. Because of this, modern brewers have been tinkering with this classic style, adding oatmeal or lactose to make the beers smoother and sweeter, and today, it’s not uncommon to see fruit or sweet treats added to a “pastry” stout.

    Given that this small batch beer release date happens to fall on Valentines Day, it only seemed fitting to brew a chocolately stout with some cherries as a nod to some of the treats found in those little heart-shaped boxes we all grew up with.

    The name “Sleeping Cupid” comes from one of our favorite stories about the Renaissance painter Michelangelo Buonarotti. When he was still a young, struggling sculptor, he was—like any starving artist—picking up work wherever he could find it. And when he couldn’t find it, he found other creative ways, like sculpting a statue of Cupid and purposely making it look old, chipped, and weathered so that he could sell it to an art broker who could fool a wealthy patron. The con worked for a while, and led to the de Medici family becoming Michelangelo’s first patron after they discovered the artist behind the incredibly convincing fraud.

    Unfortunately, the Sleeping Cupid itself has been lost to history, but the story of this young Renaissance master being hungry and more than a little shady lives on.

  • Whether you’re looking for a fun, creative date night or just want to get out of the house and hang out with friends, we’ve got you covered with our first-ever Paint and Sip event. And since love is in the air (supposedly), we’ll also be giving away Love Pittsfield x Hot Plate co-branded glasses to the first 24 guests!

    If you want to bring your own glassware or surfaces to paint, that’s cool, too. We’ll provide the paints and brushes, and you’re welcome to use whatever media or canvas you’d like.

    Start time: 7pm

THE HONORABLE MINU

Fonio Pale Ale

Release Date: Saturday, February 15

  • Last year, Sarah had the opportunity to attend the Craft Brewers Conference, where Garrett Oliver from Brooklyn Brewery gave a presentation about a beer he made with a West African grain called Fonio. She was so inspired by the sustainable qualities of this beer, and the end result, that she’s been dying to make a beer using Fonio for months. 

    One of the most interesting aspects of this grain is its ability to thrive without needing nearly as much water as cereal grains like barely, wheat, or rye, and for those of us focused on conservation and the ecological impact of the ingredients we use and how they’re grown, a grain that can survive on very little water is kind of like a miracle.

    As we researched more about this grain, we discovered that—like maize in the Americas—Western European colonizers tried to suppress the cultivation of this crop in favor of the grains they preferred to cook with. And while these colonial restrictions were met with mixed results throughout Latin America, Fonio largely disappeared from West Africa until countries regained their independence from colonizers and began to re-plant this crop.

    Complementing this grain bill are malts from both Valley Malt in Hadley, MA and Turner Hill Malting in Egremont, MA, and this beer was also brewed with hops from Four Star Farms in Northfield, MA, making this small-batch beer one of the most sustainable recipes we’ve made to date.

  • In West African folklore, there is a tale called “The Honorable Minu” about a peasant who must travel from his small village to the city of Accra. During his travels, he asks about who owns the houses, ships, and other items he discovers in the city, and each time, the answer he receives is “minu,” which is the local dialect for “I don’t know.” 

    Believing Minu to be a wealthy man, the peasant is astonished by the lavish life of this individual, until he passes a funeral procession and asks who is in the casket, and is once again told, “minu.” After finding out that “Minu” died like all men do, the peasant returned home grateful to be alive and for the comparatively fewer possessions he had.

    The moral of this story is relatively straightforward, but we at Hot Plate believe in the power of storytelling—whether it comes from an oral or written tradition—which is why we’re so excited to team up with a bunch of local authors who will be holding a small book fair during the day in our taproom.

    Start time: 1pm

    Collaborators: Local authors

FLOATING PAGODA

Coconut Porter

Release Date: Sunday, February 16

  • As mentioned above in the history of the Cherry Stout, dark beers known as stouts and porters originated in the 1700s and quickly became known for their relatively higher alcohol content and their bold notes of chocolate, coffee, and dried fruit.

    In recent years, coconut has been an ingredient appearing in dark beers with more frequency. Adding a sweet and tropical twist to these European classics, coconuts complement the flavors of a porter much in the way that oats or lactose might.

    Native to South Pacific Island nations, coconuts have become staples in the diets of many cultures, and, for a very brief time in the 20th century, it also became the source of religious inspiration. Seriously: in response to the political and military unrest in Vietnam, an eccentric Buddhist monk founded a religious community on an island off of Vietnam called the “Coconut Religion.” His focus was creating a greater sense of peace and harmony among humankind, but the religion was abolished in 1975 by the socialist government, and the leader of this group, the Coconut Monk, died in unexplained circumstances in 1990.

  • Inspired the message of peace and (quite literally) harmony, we wanted to once again team up with our friends from the Berkshire Concert Choir as they lead us in another group sing with songs about peace, love, and harmony. Songbooks will be given out to attendees, and no professional experience is required.

    Start time: 2pm

    Collaborators: Berkshire Concert Choir

PEER TO PEER

Lime Lager

Release Date: Monday, February 17

  • While the combination of a light “Mexican” lager paired with a lime seems like a combination as old as time, the origins of this flavor combination are not as clear cut as you might think. There are urban legends that pre-Colombian Mexican culture added limes to their beers to use the fruit’s natural acidity to kill germs. There are a few reasons why this isn’t true—the biggest one being that beer wasn’t being made in Mexico until German immigrants arrived in the nineteenth century.

    There are a few other stories floating around about the origin of this beer, but just like the pirated music we elder millennials were sharing on peer-to-peer servers like LimeWire, we’re not really sure where any of those stories came from, or how close to the originals they actually were. According to Stephen Rubino, a writer for Thrillist, the most convincing story is that some Californian bartender started the trend in 1981.

     Either way, this light lime lager takes us back to the days in college when you’d go out and drink a “fancy” beer at a “fancy” bar because they’d gussy up some domestic, mass-produced beer by shoving a lime wedge in there. And you know what? There’s nothing wrong with taking a little sip of nostalgia every now and then.

  • Because this beer is inspired by our college days, we figured that inviting our pal Mike Duffy to lead us in another Open Mic night, which is known to sometimes get the crowd singing along from time to time, was the best way to celebrate this beer.

    Whether you’re playing your own instruments, relying on Mike to provide the backing music, performing covers or originals, this is the chance to make our taproom your stage (for five minutes at a time).

    Start time: 7pm

    Collaborators: Mike Duffy

JAZZ HANDS

Mango Wheat Ale

Release Date: Tuesday, February 18

  • The wheat ale has been a staple of European brewing for as long as beer has been made. Originating in the thirteenth century, medieval brewers were only starting to formalize beer recipes and pass on traditions both in monasteries and in farms throughout the continent and the British islands.

    The wheat ale is such a popular and delicious style that “hefeweizens” were the one exception made by the Bavarian royal family who first issued the Reinheitsgebot (Purity Law), which mandated that all beers should be brewed only with barley, hops, and water. Because these royals loved their wheat beers, they turned a blind eye to this—though you won’t find a fruited wheat ale produced in any German brewery to this day.

    In Belgium and throughout the rest of the beer-brewing and beer-drinking world, fruited wheat ales have risen in popularity because the natural softness and sweetness of a wheat beer often pairs nicely with berries, citrus, or even tropical flavors. While we don’t brew with fruit too much at Hot Plate—wanting to save those ingredients that could otherwise be used as food on the table for folks—a small batch beer for a very special occasion makes it worth it.

  • Because every sip of this soft and sweet mango wheat ale creates that same kind of happy sensation you see when everyone breaks into a song in a musical, we decided that this was the perfect opportunity to once again team up with our friends from Barrington Stage Company for a Musical Theater Bingo Night. Led by the Artistic Producer and Associate Artistic Director of BSC, Branden Huldeen, musical theater bingo is going to be a fun night with games, prizes, and (we’re guessing) more than a little bit of spontaneous singing along.

    Start time: 7pm

    Collaborators: Barrington Stage Company

BIRDS & ROSES

Saison

Release Date: Wednesday, February 19

  • When we were still homebrewing and learning about the art, science, and history of beer and different styles, we developed a huge passion for saisons (also known as farmhouse ales). Back when brewers were either monks or families with fermentable ingredients on their land, the “saison” was a wild ale fermented with whatever was in season (thus the French name).

    For those of you who stand by Beer Judge Certificate Program (BJCP), which define the acceptable ranges for certain characteristics of beer based on style, saisons offer some of the greatest varieties. This is largely due to the fact that there was very little codification of this style by farmer brewers over the centuries.

    While the range of color, ABV, funkiness, and even adjunct ingredients can vary widely, we made this one right down the middle, with just a little hint of funky tartness from the Belgian saison yeast strain without pushing it too far.

  • We first met Easthampton-based singer-songwriter Greg Hall in 2024 and felt that there was an instant connection between the approach to his artistic medium and the way that we love to design beer recipes as well as collaborate with all sorts of artists and artisans. In our discussion about storytelling, oral traditions, folk music, and how those all intersect with modern audiences and popular culture, it was clear that Greg puts an incredible amount of thought into his art and is a true student of the form as well as an advocate for roots music.

    We wanted to share a little bit more about this ongoing dialogue we’ve been having as well as exploring Greg’s songwriting process and learning a little bit about the stories behind the soulful, thoughtful songs that made it onto Birds & Roses, his latest EP.

    Start time: 7pm

    Collaborators: Greg Hall

CUSP OF SENSITIVITY

Cassis Tea Berlinerweisse

Release Date: Thursday, February 20

  • Our first ever batch of mixed-fermented beer also features a tea made from the leaves of blackcurrants, which we sourced from our friends over at C. Cassis in Rhinebeck, NY.

    Not only does this allow us to collaborate with another woman-owned and woman-led company in the fermented beverages industry, but it also finds a second use for some of the byproducts of Rachel’s alcoholic and non-alcoholic concoctions before the leaves eventually get composted.

  • The period when Aquarius gives way to Pisces is known as the Cusp of Sensitivity, and given this auspicious time of year, we wanted to team up with some of our favorite witches, astrologists, performers, and polymaths for a Thursday Night Alchemy celebration of Sarah’s beer as well as the art and products made by frequent collaborators Xtwii and Luna Faun. We’ll also be joined by local painter Erin Potter who will also be joining the multisensory and multimedia performance.

    Start time: 7pm

    Collaborators: Xtwii, Luna Faun, Erin Potter

ATAVISTIC ENDEAVOR

Kentucky Common Ale

Release Date: Friday, February 21

  • Like the Cream Ale and California Common Ale, the Kentucky Common Ale is one of very few styles of beer that was invented in the United States. Originating in the nineteenth century, with a heyday that stretched from post-Civil War Era to Prohibition, this style was made by mostly German immigrants and was almost exclusively produced and sold around the Louisville area.

    Speed was the name of the game with the Kentucky Common, and it shares that trait with the Cream Ale (which was developed to compete with these newfangled German beers called lagers). From brew day to delivery, as the story goes, this beer was only eight days old before it would get shipped out—in fact, brewers would package the beer while it was still actively fermenting.

    These days, we don’t have to rush quite so much to get a beer out to the general public, but Sarah endeavored to make this historical beer true to style.  Darker than a cream ale, the Kentucky Common is also the kind of hybrid beer that toes the line between ales and lagers, finishing clean, not too hoppy, and a refreshing malt presence without being too sweet or distracting.

    In recent years, this historical style is slowly coming back into commercial production, though since it was never widely popular across the country, the interest it generates tends to be among the true beer nerds, especially those inclined to study the history of beer and brewing.

  • The subculture forming around bringing back historical beers is, obviously, not very big, but those who like to nerd out about such things are quite passionate about it. For us (and a growing number of our regulars), vinyl records is a dovetailing interest with craft beer. Busting out old albums from back in the day or exciting finds from crate-diving at second hand shops and record shows, this once-dominant medium has been steadily winning back music fans over the last few decades.

    As we do one Friday each month, we’re devoting this one to Bring Your Own Vinyl night with Pup Daddy Productions. DJ Pup Daddy will not only bring the turntables, speakers, and MC the night, but he also lets folks dig through his crates to find tracks they’d like to hear in case they don’t have any vinyl albums of their own.

    Start time: 7pm

    Collaborators: Pup Daddy Productions

APOCRYPHAL QUEENS

Belgian Tripel

Release Date: Saturday, February 22

  • At Hot Plate, we’re never shy about our unabashed love of Belgian beers. From their credo (if it tastes good, it is good) to the magical way that they’re able to hide their often-high alcohol content behind so much flavor, there’s an abundance of things to love about Belgian beer. More than anything else, we love how expressive their yeast strains are, especially when fermented at the higher end of the acceptable temperature ranges, which activates a lot of the fruity esters that are produced as the sugars are converted into alcohol.

    Because esters are really the stars of many Belgian beers, we were thinking of one of the most popular Esthers throughout history, who we’d long considered to be a historical queen in the ancient world. The character of Esther appears in both the Torah and the Christian Bible, and, according to the stories, she was born as Hadassah and changed her name to Esther to hide her Jewish identity after becoming the queen of Persia.

    Unfortunately, it was not Persian custom for their noble families to marry anyone outside of the Persian community, and so the story of Queen Esther is an apocryphal one, though it provided us with a name and concept for this beer.

  • We’re closing out the end of this year’s 10x10 celebration with a dance party inspired by all the apocryphal queens throughout history and, of course, modern music. For this event, Mike will be teaming up with DJ Bengey for a custom playlist of curated jams, and we’ll also be joined by Jill Gustavis, who will be doing another live painting in our taproom. (She also happens to be the artist who painted the watercolor work we used to create this year’s labels.)

    Start time: 7pm

    Collaborators: DJ Bengey, Jill Gustavis