殻破り (Shell Shock)

This collaboration with Isekadoya looked to incorporate a few curveballs. By using oyster meat and shells in the boil to give the beer a higher mineral content as well as providing salinity to keep it refreshing, we may have gone past curveball and thrown a straight knuckleball instead! 450 oysters late in the boil made the brewery smell like the ocean, but only a hint of their flavor remained in the final beer. The acidity from lactic acid fermentation is cut by the mineral and salt content of the oysters, and fermentation with Saison yeast leaves a nice hint of lemony citrus in the finish. All around, this is a great, easy drinking sour that shows how a unique ingredient can be used in a very specific way!

Naming: While you wouldn’t know it from the first sip, this beer used 450 oysters and their shells in the boil to create a unique mineral character that softens the sourness and fills out the body. Quite shocking to realize, actually, hence the Shell Shock!