SLBC CELEBRATES 6 YEARS OF BREWING BEERS!
It’s Our 6th Anniversary
We're celebrating by throwing a huge party and releasing three new anniversary beers!
Crafting collaboration beers with other breweries has become a traditional part of South Lake Brewing Company’s annual anniversary celebration. To commemorate 6 years, we brewed three West Coast-style beers with our friends from breweries located in the Tahoe basin and nearby Sacramento region.
“Collaborations with other breweries provide an opportunity for us to get together and discuss what we do differently. They offer a chance to potentially bring in some new ideas, methods, and procedures that can help us produce certain styles of beer or become better brewers in general,” SLBC Owner Chris Smith said.
This anniversary is particularly meaningful to Owners Chris and Nicole Smith, as the 6-year celebration follows the recent opening of our second taproom in South Lake Tahoe, The Libation Lodge.
“We’ve been working extremely hard to make The Libation Lodge happen. Now that it’s open on the eve of our anniversary, we’re excited to have two outlets to share our beer with Tahoe locals and visitors alike. I’m stoked for SLBC’s future growth and continuing to brew the highest quality beer for our mountain community,” Chris said.
“With SLBC being open for over 6 years now, opening a second taproom in the tourist core of South Lake Tahoe was the most natural next step for our business. The Libation Lodge is the mountain oasis of South Lake Brewing Company, and we look forward to many years of serving exceptional beer, craft beverages, food, and more to our Tahoe community and visitors,” Nicole said.
Learn more about each of the anniversary collaboration beers and how they came together below!
SLBC Owner Chris, Flatland Owners Andrew and Michelle, and SLBC Head Brewer Kyle on the brew deck for collab day.
Big Dip Hop West Coast IPA – Collaboration with Flatland Brewing Company
Flatland Brewing Company has made a name for themselves in the brewing industry with a variety of exceptional beers and a 2022 Great American Beer Festival Award win. Owners Andrew and Michelle Mohsenzadegan made the trip from Elk Grove, California, to brew a dip hop West Coast IPA with the SLBC crew.
“We’re both stoked on West Coast IPAs right now and pushing the limits on what we can do with them. We decided to brew one that is balanced with a lot of tropical fruit, dank pine, and cannabis notes that everyone loves about West Coast IPAs,” Chris said.
Unique hop products were used in unconventional ways, including an extracted hop product called Incognito used in the fermenter instead of the kettle to add flavor and aromas. Hops favored by the SLBC crew were used in the dry hop including Strata, Simcoe Cryo, and Columbus Cryo, which are hop pellets that have been cryogenically frozen to create more flavor compounds with less vegetal matter.
At 6.6% ABV, the resulting West Coast IPA features tons of hop flavor and highlights hop characteristics of ripe fruits, bright citrus, and sticky herbs with a high drinkability factor.
“We chose Flatland because we are really impressed with what they can do on a smaller scale. The ability to win awards and do what they want as far as beer styles and brewing is concerned is really admirable. Andrew and Michelle are salt of the earth people, so it was fun having them here,” Chris said.
Chris pours Incognito, an extracted hop product, into the fermenter.
West Coast Pale Ale – Collaboration with Alibi Ale Works
Our friends at Alibi Ale Works from nearby Incline Village, Nevada, have been on our collaboration wish list for several years. Owner Kevin Drake and Head Brewer Matt Garcia made the 45-minute drive to SLBC from the North Shore of Lake Tahoe and brought some of their favorite hops and yeast with them to share.
Kevin and Chris share a love of Pale Ales, and in keeping with the West Coast anniversary theme, a West Coast Pale Ale was chosen for this collaboration. Hops from both breweries were used including Cascade, Strata, and Talus as well as kölsch yeast from Alibi which is not typical for a hoppy West Coast-style beer.
“We enjoy similar beer styles but have a different approach to them. We followed a fermentation that they have been working on and used their hops as well as ours to meld our styles together which is cool,” Chris said.
The resulting West Coast Pale Ale balances a malt body with hop flavors of ripe citrus and melon, fresh berries, and fruit gummies. In addition to brewing the beer, this collaboration lent an opportunity to discuss business and operating taprooms in the Lake Tahoe region.
“They are a few years older than us and have also opened multiple taprooms in order to bring more beer directly into their community. We’ve been working on our second location and just opened The Libation Lodge, so it’s been fun talking to them and figuring out what works and what doesn’t in that respect,” Chris said.
The SLBC and Crooked Lane crews on collab day.
NZ Hop West Coast Pilsner – Collaboration with Crooked Lane Brewing Co.
Crooked Lane Owner Teresa Psuty has a longstanding friendship with SLBC Owners Chris and Nicole. This friendship and Crooked Lane’s outstanding beers and 2022 World Beer Cup Award win made this collaboration between the two breweries a no-brainer.
“They have won awards with their classic lagers and European-style beers. We can learn a lot from them and what they have been able to do really well with their traditional beer styles. We look to traditional styles, recipes, and methods to inspire us,” Chris said.
Head Brewer Ellen Sherrill, Brewer Joshua Romero, and Taproom Manager Brian Childers made the 2-hour drive from Auburn, California for the collaboration brew. In keeping with the West Coast theme, the teams decided to brew a West Coast Pilsner using New Zealand hops.
The brewing process featured a classic fermentation and traditional malt for a lager but with bold New Zealand hops Rakau, Nelson, and Nectaron. The resulting beer is an assertive West Coast Pilsner fermented cold with lager yeast and generously dry-hopped with New Zealand hops to create juicy, tropical flavors.
“These bold character hops play well with the gentle nature of the pilsner. West Coast Pilsners are a style that we’re really excited about. You get the hop flavor of a West Coast IPA with the drinkability and crisp character of a pilsner. As brewers, we really enjoy it,” Chris said.
The three anniversary beers!
6th Anniversary Celebration
We’ll be celebrating our 6th anniversary all Memorial Day weekend with the main festivities happening on Saturday, May 27th at our Brewery location!
The celebration starts at 12 PM and continues all day with the release of the three anniversary beers, seltzer slushies on tap, live music from LoDown and the Dirty Shame and the Ash Relics Trio, food from Get Rad Pizza, face painting for kids, specialty merchandise for sale, and more.
On Sunday, May 28th, the party will continue with free live music and the anniversary beers on tap at both the Brewery and The Libation Lodge!
Check out our Brewery and Libation Lodge event calendars for details.
