“Where can I find some Coolship?” This was a question we’ve heard frequently since we started brewing our Coolship beers way back in 2007. Finally, we have an answer that those living outside of Maine will love.

In the fall of 2007 Rob Tod had an idea. Rob, the founder of Allagash, wanted to build a small, unheated shed with a vessel resembling a massive brownie pan inside of it. Then, he wanted to pump steaming, cloudy unfermented wort into that pan, let it sit out in the open overnight, and subsequently barrel age it for up to three years. In short: he wanted to brew with a coolship.

What we call wild beer, many other people call “sour” beer. This is purely a preference, and not any hard and fast rule. But we wanted to explain why we feel like “wild” works a bit harder than “sour,” and what wild beers are to us.

The quality of our beer is beholden to the ingredients we make it from. Which is why we buy our ingredients locally whenever we can. And one ingredient that we love to buy local is fruit. It’s the best way to ensure sure that the strawberries, blueberries, peaches (or whatever else we decide to dump in our tanks) fill our beers with unmistakably fresh flavor.