MadTree isn’t bullshitting you when they use their catchphrase: “Beer builds community & Community builds beer.” They own it. They infuse every pint of beer, every interaction, ever charity event with this ethos. You can step into the MadTree taproom and feel this dedication… or if you aren’t the feelings type, you can look around and see glimpses of it, at least.

What I look forward to about their recent growth, especially as they really start growing into their new space in these next couple of years is how they use their new size to do even more good around them, not just here but in the communities that they now find themselves moving into.

I don’t want to say that it’s easy to make a lot of beer and send it to far away places, hoping that people like what you’re doing, but it’s easy. The hard part comes when you really take ownership of where your beer is, and you dedicate yourself to these places with the same care that you do in your “home” of Cincinnati. Part of this obviously means giving back to communities, and having great events… and I could certainly talk a lot about that, but I want to touch on another side of it.

Collaboration.

You see MadTree stepping up a lot around Cincinnati to help out their fellow breweries, or team up with them on collaborative projects, and they’re taking this same mindset on the road with them to help foster a community atmosphere in their new homes.

Fat Heads – Lupulin Effect

MadTree leaked this news today on some of their social media, and judging by the love that Fat Heads gets around Cincinnati (and Ohio) I have a sneaking suspicion that this is going to be one that people will be really excited about.

I don’t know a ton of details about this release yet, other than it’s going to be packaged in 12oz cans, and that they are hoping to release it sometime “around April”. Oh, we also know that it’s an Imperial IPA – but not a NE IPA. Just a straight up awesome IPA.

UPDATE: You can read the notes for Lupulin Effect here if you’re curious about it!

Jackalope Brewing – Phone A Friend

I snagged news about this one from one of my favorite places – the Federal TTB. After quickly reaching out to MadTree I got some fun news about what they’ve got planned with some new friends down in Tennessee. First, lets look at the label, then we’ll dig in. It reads:

A collaboration among friends brewed on a custom 100bbl Sprinkman Brewhouse. This beer features 2-Row, GoldPils Vienna, Dark Munich 30L, and CaraPils malt From Breiss Malting co. along with Nugget, Centennial, and Amarillo hops from Crosby Hop Farm.

The beer came from a bit of a “spontaneous relationship” that formed between MadTree and Jackalope brewing down in Nashville when MadTree first came into the Nashville market. Nashville is going to be home to this years Craft Brewer’s Conference, and the breweries thought that a collaboration to coincide with the conference would be a fun idea.

To take the whole collaboration idea even farther – the breweries both use Sprinkman Brewhouses, Breiss Malts, and Crosby Hop Farms, so it only made sense to bring everyone into the fold and let community build beer… and beer build community. Breiss brought along some new malts they created, and Crosby brought some hops… and the folks at both breweries went to town.

The cans will be primarily available in Nashville (remember… it’s designed to coincide with the Craft Brewer’s Conference) but that doesn’t mean that the MadTree taproom won’t get a small allotment most likely.

The cans will be the first shrink-wrapped cans that MadTree has done that’s then applied with a shrink wrap gun (first for now… I think this means that we might see some other smaller batches of cans done with shrink wraps, and that’s exciting to think of the possibility there!). The artwork was done by MadTree’s designer Nicki Logson (you might know her by her fantastic work on some of their other cans – me… I will always know her for being the brain behind Chocodile Tears, MadTree’s chocolate gose). It’s boldly colored, beautiful… and I absolutely love that it’s a perfect mix of the two breweries on the label, not one brewery “featuring” another one. I also LOVE that it features the “Beer builds community & Community builds beer tag line.

Well done – I can’t wait to taste it! As more details become available, I’ll fill you guys in!

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