Sandwiched between France, Germany, and the Netherlands is a country that gained its independence in 1831. It’s known in the brewing world for its idiosyncratic traditions just as much for the world-class beer its brewers produce. We’re talking about Belgium, of course—and the brewing tradition that has inspired us since the beginning.

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.

There are a variety of ways to get sour flavor into a beer—and an almost endless variety of beers that you can add sourness to. To be clear, we’re honestly not the hugest fans of the term “sour beer.” For us, sour is a flavor descriptor and not a beer style. Sour beers can be dark, fruity, light, heavy, anything really. But that doesn’t answer the question: how do you make a beer sour?

In this post, we wanted to pause and take a look back at what 2020 meant for all of us at Allagash. The common thread was most definitely perseverance in the face of challenges: whether they were facing us as a brewery or our community as a whole. We feel lucky to be able to say that we found quite a few ways to give back where we could. We hope you enjoy this look through the numbers that made 2020 what it was. And thank you, as always, for your support, and for helping us make the most of a distinctly difficult year.