Beer of the Week: Let’s Go!

From the Beer Writer: In its purest, most authentic form, craft brewing is all about constant exploration and education. Lessons learned through the experimentation and collaboration that are cornerstones of the trade inevitably make brewers better the longer they ply their trade, providing them with new techniques with which to refine their ales and lagers. But just because one can make something better—or just because one thinks they can make something better—doesn’t always mean they should. Such is the case with flagship beers. We’re talking about the likes of the venerable Sierra Nevada Pale Ales, Boston Lagers and Sculpin IPAs of the world; bankable beers that are noted for their quality, consistency and the major role they play in bringing in the majority of the revenue necessary to keep a business humming along. To mess with one of those can be very dangerous even if one has the best of intentions. Nobody wants to accidentally end up with a New Coke on their hands, but when loyal consumers are so intimately familiar with a company’s product, tweaks of any kind present the risk of turning people off. Fortunately, there are those daring—and skilled—enough to take a chance in the name of improving even a time-tested pillar like this week’s featured beer, Let’s Go! The flagship IPA of Fall Brewing, this West Coast model has been the North Park business’ calling card since replacing its predecessor, Green Hat, years ago. Dry yet rife with flavors of citrus and stone fruit, it’s a solid beer with good pedigree. Most brewers would be stoked just to have a beer like that in their portfolio, but Fall head brewer Dan Oullette and his crew opted to mess with success in an effort to up the aroma so that it would match the intensity registering on their palates. I’ll let the technician behind the recipe edit get into more detail, but the trials and tweaks they instituted really paid off. Let’s Go!’s bouquet is now just as deserving of that exclamation point in its name, adding more sensorial depth to an IPA that’s all the better for the analyzation and adaptation that went into it.

From the Brewer: “Let’s Go! is our flagship West Coast IPA that rips all year long! We pack this beer full of Simcoe and Citra to bring out a beautiful citrus-forward IPA balanced with a touch of malty sweetness. We have been striving to bring this beer into the modern era by modifying the hop schedule in order to produce an enhanced aroma and flavor bringing San Diego to you in a can or on draft. We utilize North American two-row and German Vienna malt paired with California Ale yeast for clean fermentation that allows the hops to shine!”—Dan Oullette, Head Brewer, Fall Brewing