For centuries, brewers have been a pretty weird group of people. Some brewers talk to their yeast as it ferments, keeping it positive company so that it produces exactly the beer they hope for. Some brewers even sing to their yeast for the same reason, and I’m sure more than a few monks have prayed for it over the centuries. Though I don’t personally carry any of those habits (yet), it’s hard to refute that beer provides some fairly odd and serendipitous moments in our lives (Jungian synchronists rejoice!) and today is one of those days. As I write this, I’m also brewing a pilot of the very first pale ale we’ll offer at Black Flannel. It’s truly an iconic American style, and we can’t wait to share our version with you.

When American craft brewers of the 1980s wanted to create rich, flavorful beers that challenged the macro lagers of the day, they looked to Europe’s best ale producers for inspiration. Paradoxically, lager brewing has a lot more up-front costs than ale brewing, since the beers need tanks to condition in for the long keeping period. Even before the porter craze in the early 1700s, pale beers made with top-fermenting yeast were brewed and loved all over England. Pale ales were brewed commercially, but as far as we can tell, the best versions were brewed on feudal estates (think Downton Abbey except hopefully without the spoiled daughters and drama). Estate brewers tackled a range of styles, since they weren’t beholden to profits: they were simply brewing what got workers through the day and what they loved to drink on special occasions. To be sure, these beers have gone through growing pains. Pale beers in the UK changed dramatically during and after the second world war since ingredients were scarce, and brewers were forced to lessen the malt bills of their pale ales. To this day, the low-gravity beers that resulted from that conflict remain the most popular beer in pubs around London, where they are still referred to as “bitters.”

Ken Grossman started Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in 1979, where he brewed his first batch of Sierra Nevada Pale, often credited as the progenitor of the style, in November of 1980. Boldly American in its hop character, this beer continues to be one of the most popular brews in the craft sector, and for good reason. Grossman took what he could learn from British brewing literature, which at the time largely focussed on the bitters being brewed there, and brewed a similar beer with American ingredients. While hops from the Pacific Northwest are now infamous for their wonderful pine, citrus, and resin aromatics, they weren’t always favored by brewers the world over. Take, for example, this gem from The Edinburgh Review, written in 1862: “American hops may also be dismissed in a few words. Like American grapes, they derive a coarse, rank flavor and smell from the soil in which they grow, which no management, however careful, has hitherto succeeded in neutralizing. There is little chance of their competing in our markets with European growth, except in season of scarcity and of unusually high prices.” Ken Grossman bet on American hops, and he won big. The beer that resulted is beloved in craft circles everywhere (it’s one I’ve got a pack of in the fridge more often than not).

When you walk into Black Flannel, you’re going to find at least one beer inspired by American Pale ale–be it an IPA, a pale ale, or something totally different–even if the style has gone through its own changes over the past 40 years. We’ll have hazy versions that feature newer fruity hops, brilliant versions that feature old school citrusy and piney hops, and anything we can think of in between. We love this style and the broad range of expressions it can have, and we think you’ll like our takes on it too.