Silver City Brewery | Nice Day IPA
ABV: 5.5% | IBU: 45
PorchDrinking.com recently met with Daniel Frantz of Silver City Brewery – based in Bremerton, Washington. Frantz, Silver City’s Marketing/Graphics Design/PR guru, took a short break from juggling his many hats to brief us on some of the exciting beers and events in their pipeline. Upon his departure, he graciously left us with a mixed six pack including their brand new, super crushable Nice Day IPA. We got to work immediately. See below for results:
Nice Day IPA pours a clear and bright amber with a 1 finger head that dissipates quickly. The nose brings a light orange rind, quick blast of resinous hop, touch of earthy spice, and finishes with a stick of Juicy Fruit. As we allow the beer to open up, Daniel illuminates the journey:
“Brewing a ~5.5% session IPA was a year-long process. After some competition amongst the brewers, we had a good handle on what the best elements of each were. We sat down and collaborated on all of those elements and ended up with Nice Day IPA. It’s the beer that we brewed for ourselves because it’s the beer that we wanted to drink,” says Frantz. “We wanted it light, but with an all malt bill, it wasn’t quite hitting the exact notes we were looking for. One of our brewers came up with an idea: “Let’s put oats in it.” You don’t see a lot of pale beers with oats. The addition kept the body light, but added a bit of depth and character to it.”
A hint of sweet spiciness opens the taste, and quickly proceeds to a mild bitter. The oat addition is easily identifiable in the mouthfeel, and adds a fun smoothness to a beer that finishes dry and crisp. One sip effortlessly leads to another. Before I know it, my glass is empty.
“The story behind the Smiley face logo is kind of funny. When we were going through the process of tasting all the different beers that eventually led to Nice Day, we were texting back and forth… ” begins Frantz.
“… And then someone dropped this bomb of sunshine… “
“… Well there’s our logo! That’s got the attitude that we want.”
Daniel’s passion for both his work and the people he works with were pouring out of him like fermenters being drained on bottling day. It was very apparent that all of the energy put into experimenting, testing, and finally choosing the final recipe for Nice Day IPA was well worth it. This is a beer I want to have at the end of a hike (or middle… or beginning for that matter), at the beach, a random sunny Saturday, and any other days that end in “y.”
“Wherever your nice day is, Nice Day is there for you,” says Frantz.
Before we parted ways, Daniel told us about a few of other beers in Silver City’s selection. Also included in our mixed sixer was Fat Scotch Ale, which evolves into Fat Woody, a Scotch Ale aged on white oak chips. Now, If you were a Pokemon fan, the next step takes this beer straight to the echelons of Charizard. Get this. To celebrate Silver City’s 20th anniversary, Fat Woody will be aged in McCallan Scotch Barrels procured from Scotland. Yes.
Drink Silver City. You can have a Nice Day now, and with all of their upcoming 20th anniversary releases, you’ll have a lot of nice days to look forward to.
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