Yes, with “fermentation project” in the name, the plan all along was to go beyond traditional beer brewing methods. Crux Fermentation Project has brewed a few different ciders now and dabbled in some other fermented experiments, but now that its Gypsy Coolship has set sail it is excited to see where it goes.
From the brewery’s latest release:
Dreamed up by our brewers during a late night drive back from hop selection, our coolship lives on a trailer so we can take it on the road to explore what mother nature has to offer in the form of spontaneous fermentation.
For our first experiment, we stayed close to home and parked the Coolship on our tasting room lawn during a cold winter day last December. We brewed up a low ABV (3.7%) Grisette recipe and let nature do its thing as it sat overnight. After a few months in wine barrels, the local microflora did its job, creating a subtle tartness with an intriguing funkiness – capturing what you might say is an authentic flavor of our high desert, mountain town.
For those who can’t make it to our tasting room to enjoy it on draft or pick up a bottle from our cooler, we have good news! This week we’re shipping 40 of the 60 cases (750ml bottles) produced to our Oregon distributor so look for it soon at your favorite craft beer spots.
Stay tuned for details on Gypsy Coolship No. 2 as it’s currently fermenting away in barrels, which means that the wort we set out to cool on the Metolius Preserve last month was successfully inoculated by the forest air.
And we can’t forget to give a big shout out to local Bend artist, Sweet Pea Cole, who designed the landlocked sailor themed label for us, which we think perfectly complements the playful and adventurous nature of this series. Land ho!
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