LYNN — Bent Water Brewing Company is releasing a new Lynn tribute series that will honor the history and landmarks of the city.
The first beer is named Supercharger in honor of the first jet engine, which was built in Lynn.
Supercharger will be on shelves and in restaurants in Massachusetts this weekend, before it reaches New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Florida and Rhode Island. It will kick off the series of five IPAs that will launch throughout the remainder of the year, with a new one released about every six weeks.
Bent Water spokeswoman Robin Leopoldo said the team is very excited to acknowledge the rich history of Lynn with the new tribute series.
“As a craft brewery, it’s so much part of the culture to be a part of your community,” she said. “We don’t have the tap room open, so (this is) another avenue of really connecting ourselves with Lynn, Lynn locals and with North Shore locals.”
Leopoldo said this series will let people know what Lynn is about today, whether they’re from the city or not.
“There’s just so much in Lynn that’s really wonderful,” she said. “I feel like it’s these pockets of small gems that come together to make the big community, and I feel like it’s a very supportive community in terms of following your passions and your dreams.”
Adam Denny Golab, head brewer at Bent Water, said IPAs were a no-brainer for the Lynn Tribute Series, with Leopoldo adding that Bent Water is known for its New England IPAs.
He described Supercharger as a juicy New England IPA that features Azacca, Amarillo, and Simcoe hops.
“The nose is all fruit: peaches, mango, pineapple with a light background of pine needles. It has a mellow bitterness and full mouthfeel,” he said. “The taste follows the nose. Fruit juice with a touch of pine.”
Having moved to Lynn with his wife four years ago, Denny Golab said Lynn is his adopted city.
“I’m excited to bring attention to our city through BW beer and I hope that people can see the greatest of Lynn,” he said.
Bent Water planned the series to not only showcase the beer, but to also show off the history, richness and future of Lynn.
“From factories to General Electric (GE), there’s such a huge history of industry there,” Leopoldo said. “Even today, with all of the different businesses that open up, I feel like there are a lot of entrepreneurs in Lynn, and there’s a lot of support for that.”
She said the whole idea of industry and innovation inspired Supercharger.
The rest of the series will include beers paying homage to the city’s historical district, LynnArts, restaurants, Lynn Woods and the Lynn beach and shoreline.
“That combination of different characteristics make it such an appealing place to be,” said Aaron Reames, co-founder and president of Bent Water Brewing. “And when you take into account the terrific water source on top of that, we couldn’t be happier to be a part of Lynn.”
The label of Supercharger is an eye-catching design that uses one of the gorillas from Bent Water’s double funder thunk cans.
The label, designed by co-founder Mike Shaughnessy, shows a gorilla on a jet engine flying through the air.
According to Leopoldo, Shaughnessy read an article stating that when test flying the jet engine, one of the pilots would keep a gorilla mask in the cockpit. The article goes on to say that Army Air Corps pilots observed a plane with no propeller flying past them at an incredible speed, which had been piloted by a gorilla that waved at them.
The encounter inspired Shaughnessy’s label creation for Supercharger.
Prior to the tribute series, Bent Water acknowledged Lynn with a Pink Boots Beer. The Pink Boots Society is a nonprofit organization with international membership that supports women working in the brewing profession, especially in creating craft beer.
Bent Water launches a beer in honor of a woman every year on Women’s History Day, with this year’s beer being “tell me I can’t.”
The “tell me I can’t” beer was inspired by Lynn native Ruth Law Oliver, who went on to become an aviator in the early 1900s, after she was denied flight lessons by Orville Wright.
“(Wright) said no because women are not mechanically inclined,” Leopoldo said. “Her response to that was basically ‘the surest way to get me to do something is to tell me I can’t.”
Leopoldo said Bent Water wanted to specifically choose someone from Lynn for its Pink Boots Beer, which in turn, segued into its official Lynn Tribute Series.
Allysha Dunnigan can be reached at [email protected].
