Heads up beer nerds—we just canned a fresh batch of Space Lettuce.
This beer holds a special place in our hearts, probably because of the cosmic journey we’ve been on together. Surprisingly, Space Lettuce actually didn’t start out as Space Lettuce at all.
Three years ago, this double India pale ale began as a limited beer released at our 6th anniversary party, Tie 6 On.
Our concept was a super juicy double IPA with six different malts and six different hops. You know, because we were turning six. It’s a whole thing we do.
Tie 6 On turned out to be the life of the party, so we decided to bring it back as a one-off in our Black Tie series.
Our alliteration-happy brewing crew codenamed it “Astronomical Arugula,” because they thought the hop profile was out of this world. That name morphed into Space Lettuce (probably—likely—over a few beers), but the recipe remains unchanged. It’s still an 8.1% ABV / 70 IBUs double IPA brewed with six malts and six hops.
The thing about a beer with so many hops is that no single one shines, which is what makes Space Lettuce so beautiful, according to brewmaster Peter Kiley. He calls it a “juicy, no-coast, double IPA.” In other words, it does not fit into a neat subset of IPA. It’s too juicy to be West Coast-style. It’s too clean to be NE-style. It’s too lots-of-things to be English-style.
When we first released Space Lettuce in late November 2017, our beertenders were overwhelmed with draft requests and 6-pack cans sold out in a couple of days. We were definitely on to something. Over time, it became our most-hyped IPA. These days, it has earned a recurring role in our portfolio, and we are working hard to supply craft beer aficionados across Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama with this heady, intergalactic liquid.
Like Monday Night Brewing, the awesomeness of Space Lettuce lies in is the sum of its many, many parts. Which is great with us, because it’s a delicious beer with a meandering backstory. Those usually make the best sippers anyway.