LYNN — Two businesses came together with the idea of “doing something weird.”
Adam Denny Golab, head brewer at Bent Water Brewery in Lynn, said it was a conversation between friends that led to the brewery’s latest collaboration with B.GOOD, a fast casual, farm-to-table restaurant chain serving sustainably-grown, fresh food in 78 locations across the U.S., Canada, Switzerland and Germany. The two Boston-based brands launched a collaborative beer on Thursday that draws upon local ingredients to deliver a unique fall flavor.
“Good Water,” as it’s called, is a 6 percent ABV, farmhouse ale that blends staghorn sumac and dandelion root, harvested on B.GOOD’s Hannah Farm which is on an island in the Boston Harbor, and locally malted barley, which is grown in Northern Maine.
“This is Bent Water’s first higher profile collaboration with a bigger restaurant group,” said Denny Golab. “Personally, I’m a big fan of B.GOOD. I eat there a lot because I am a vegetarian and it’s always so hard to find food that is quick, fast and veggie… “This beer is a great opportunity for people who don’t know our brand to find us and explore us. It was also a chance for us to do something weird.”
Bent Water and B.GOOD share a lot of ideals and have unique connections to local elements, said Denny Golab. The chain restaurant focuses on farm-to-table dining and locally sourced ingredients while the brewery cites Lynn’s superior water source as a key factor in the decision to plant their roots there.
“The thinking on this was ‘Hey, what can we do and grow on our farm, other than food, that can work in a restaurant environment,” said Hadrien Delande, vice president of brand marketing for B.GOOD. “Beer was a natural fit.”
The idea behind the brew’s flavor was to create something cool and new with ingredients people don’t consider to be food or something they want to get out of their yards, like dandelions, said Denny Golab.
Dandelions are tart and lemony, said Denny Golab, and are a popular spice in Middle Eastern cooking. It is a food ingredient, it’s just not necessarily common in this part of the world, he added.
For now, the special brew will be sold in the Lynn brewery’s tap room, both in four packs and on draft. Given there are only select areas of the country where B.GOOD holds liquor licenses, Massachusetts not included, the restaurant chain won’t be selling the beers quite yet, said Delande.
“As we expand, we will want more beer and wine in our restaurants,” Delande said. “I’m excited to look at what we can do with Bent Water to make for a bigger program in the future.”
