In addition to our two launch beers, Eye Patch Ale and Drafty Kilt Scotch Ale, Monday Night Brewery is perfecting a few other beers which will eventually hit the shelves as new regulars or seasonals. And like any good brewers, we’ve also got some failed experiments under our belt.

Headless Horseman Pumpkin Ale

An annual tradition, our pumpkin ale is brewed with fall spices and actual roasted pumpkin. Many brewers simply rely on spices to impart the “pumpkin” flavor in their pumpkin beer. After we roll (or “TP,” depending on where you’re from) those brewers’ houses, we go back to Jeff’s house and actually use pumpkin in ours. We use a bit of British hops and an ESBish base to make a beer that would bring the headless horseman himself to give up the ruthless slaughter of innocent townspeople for a single pint. Now THAT’S a good beer.

Laissez-Faire Barleywine

Every June, we start thinking about Christmas. That’s when we brew our barleywine with cinnamon, nutmeg, candied ginger and allspice. We brew this beer once a year, which makes it extra special. Spicy with warm notes of caramel and pine, this capitalist beer is best after the invisible hand is allowed to do its thing for at least six months, and it only gets better with time.

Southern Monk Belgian Peach Dubbel

We can’t tell you how awesome this beer is going to be. Because it’s not there yet, because we’ve been distracted. But this is at the top of our development priority list. Despite our neglect, we’ve managed to pull off a solid Belgian Dubbel (which will serve as the base recipe), so integrating the southern flair is the next step. We’re hopeful that this beer will be an inspiration to mulleted monks everywhere.

Con Man Stout

This experiment gone horribly right began when we split a batch of stout into two. One got vanilla and cherries in secondary, and one got bourbon-soaked oak chips. Both were terrific, so we made a milk stout based on the same recipe. We plan on twisting this stout to suit our moods each time we brew it, thus beguiling and winning over a naïve population (you), much like a con man would. Smooth, creamy and full-bodied, this beer is the real deal no matter which iteration you end up with. Bottom line – this sneaky, unpredictable stout is destined for great things, as long as it can avoid the law.

Wit’s End Belgian Wit

We have had a tumultuous and beautiful ride with wheat beers. After a long tryst with Bavarian hefeweizens, we decided to move in with a Belgian wit. And frankly, we’re glad we did. The Wit’s End is our attempt at brewing a sessionable wheat beer without compromising on flavor. And not in the American macro-brewery sense of the word “flavor.” Cloves and some orange zest make an occasional appearance as well. We’ll continue to refine this beer, but it’s already a favorite of the spring and summer crowds at MNB.

Failed experiments

Redcoat Bitter

Monday Night Brewery’s first attempt to brew a British-style beer turned out relatively well. Except that everyone wanted it to taste more like an American beer. And being a bunch of Americans, we agree. As of now, the Redcoat is a malty special bitter brewed with English malts and hops, with a dry finish and a nutty flavor. Fundamentally, we like it. It just needs to be more like a Ford F250 than a Mini Cooper.

Base Jumper Double IPA

So we love double IPA’s.

We just don’t love this double IPA… yet. The brewmaster has made getting this beer just right a top priority. The original version was too heavy on bittering hops and lacked a solid malt backbone, which is a polite way of saying it tasted terrible. The second version was… better. Nothing to write home about. Which is a polite way of saying mediocre.

Cow Tipper Cream Ale

Since none of the MNB crew is too keen on cream ale, it was a no-brainer to try to brew one. The logic doesn’t work, and neither did this beer. With a bit of a strange smoothness to it, a lack of any discernible flavor and a sanitation issue to boot, this is another one for the archives.

Sweet & Dour Bog Monster Cranberry Ale

Oh Lord, forgive us for playing GOD! Too much tang, not enough sweet. Plus it caught a gusher bug, so it was totally undrinkable after 3 weeks in the bottle. We’ll leave cranberries for the folks at Ocean Spray for the time being.

P.S. Sometimes when you use fruit extract it ends up tasting like fruit extract. Not fruit.

Swaddling Ale

If you want a beer that tastes like the bastard child of a spruce tree and a can of Pine-sol, you’ve fount it in our Christmas Ale. To date, we’re not aware that it causes blindness, but it tastes like it should.

The problem? After failing to secure spruce extract from our local homebrew store, a nameless brewmaster snuck around the local home improvement store looking for spruce clippings to cook in the wort. The yield proved inadequate, so when the spruce extract finally arrived, the aforementioned brewmaster overcompensated slightly by adding an ounce to the five gallon batch immediately before bottling. A couple drops would probably have sufficed.

Oh–and Joel likes it. We don’t know why.