Mortalis x Swiftwater Luau beer fest observations
Mortalis x Swiftwater Luau beer fest observations
Beer fest at Ontario Beach Park brought the weirdest and most wonderful to Rochester. Plus, one Ontario County brewery announces it is for sale.
(Editorial aside: This is post 200!!! for the newsletter. Thanks for all your support over the past two-plus years.)
The Mortalis x Swiftwater Luau transformed the Robach Community Center at Ontario Beach Park in Charlotte into a sweaty, Ghostbusters-themed beach party last Saturday.
In its short tenure, it has become one of the best beer events in the region. And it’s certainly a highlight of the summer for me. Like I’ve tried to do with the Rochester Real Beer Expo, the Luau does a wonderful job of introducing attendees to new breweries.
Admittedly, the Luau casts a much wider net than the largely regional Expo. Where else are you gonna get to enjoy breweries from Quebec, California, Georgia, and Oregon? (Editorial aside: Nowhere, at least not in Rochester.)
The sixth edition of the Luau brought 60 of the country’s most buzzed about breweries to Rochester, where most offered some of the weirdest and rarest beers they produce. It was my second consecutive year volunteering at the event. And I was honored to pour for Portland, Maine’s Definitive Brewing, a brewery that has collaborated with Mortalis a number of times over the last few years.
I was absolutely blown away by this year’s Luau. Again, the organizers do an incredible job of taking care of brewery reps, attendees, and volunteers. There is a station with sunscreen, kiddie pools filled with ice-cold cans of water (provided by Florida-based Tripping Animals Brewing), and complimentary leis as you enter. (On that front, I know Mortalis and Swiftwater really, really provide for brewery attendees, booking hotel rooms, offering a kickass pre-party at the Richmond, and feeding folks before, during, and after the event.)
Here’s a debrief of my time at the Luau, including my favorite beverages:
Barn Town Brewing 33-Month Whiskey Barrel-Aged PBJ sour
Until Saturday, I had never even heard of this 8-year-old brewery from West Des Moines, Iowa. But therein lies the beauty of the Luau. Mortalis assistant brewery Joe Loehnig recently poured at Barn Town’s annual beer fest, the Barn Town Get Down, and Barn Town reciprocated at the Luau. Barn Town founder Pete Faber came to Rochester to hang out with us. And he brought some incredible fruited sours, including a seltzer-based (therefore, gluten free) peanut butter and jelly sour that rested in whiskey barrels for nearly three years. The result was unlike anything I’ve had — a heavily fruited sour that didn’t drink heavy and featured all of the flavors advertised on the label. And because Pete was pouring right next to me, I got to experience this one a few times.
Genesee Watermelon Cucumber Kolsch
Genny gets extra, extra weird for the Luau. (I’m gonna encourage them to do the same thing for the Expo next year, if I’m still curating.) This year, Genny’s team of awesome employees brought three different slushies, including an extra delicious Mango Peach Kolsch with mango juice. It was absolutely perfect for the humid beach-side day. The star of the show, however, was the one-off keg of a Watermelon Cucumber Kolsch. (If you’ll remember, Genny made an April Fool’s Day joke about this iteration of its textbook summer crusher a few years back and people screamed and screamed for it to become a reality.) I am writing these words, because the limited edition Luau Kolsch ruled so gosh darn hard and Genny should really explore scaling it up. (Just like they should bring back the scaled up version of the 2016 Northern German Pilsner, as well as the iconic Dundee Pale Bock. I’ll never stop until I speak these resurrections into reality.)
Spanish Marie You Ever Think About Dying? sour
The heat really started to fuck with me Saturday. (That’s to be expected. But the Luau crew made certain everyone was hydrated and the air conditioning inside the community center was so clutch.) Spanish Marie, a Miami brewery, brought some delightful fruited sours to the Luau. The standout, for me, was the one with the oddly existential name. It was brewed with prickly pear, lemon-lime soda, and lemonade. I woulda gladly drank gallons of this refreshing little concoction.
Definitive Timeless American light lager
I might’ve been the most popular volunteer at the Luau, because I was one of the few spots offering a light lager. Multiple brewers came up to me and grabbed cans during the event. This was the beer industry folks wanted to drink. Even though it was canned (and very, very fresh), it had that trademark Euro lager skunkiness, which was combined with the textbook adjuncted American lager sweetness. I absolutely adore this beer. And at 4.2 percent alcohol, it would be a fridge staple if we could get it locally.
Mikerphone Barrel-Aged Press Play imperial stout
The beauty of the Luau is getting to try beers you’ve only read about or seen through Untappd check-ins. Mikerphone, which is from the Chicago area, has long been one of my favorite stout producers. (Track down Smells Like Bean Spirit, if you can.) This one was a collab with barrel-aged stout kings Voodoo (from Meadville, Penn.) and was aged in two different barrels (wheat whiskey and bourbon) for more than four years. And then it was conditioned vanilla beans, cacao nibs, and toasted hazelnut. It was criminally smooth and a true testament to patience and craftsmanship.
North Park Hop Fu IPA
I had my first North Park beer at last year’s Luau and was really looking forward to my second this year. They came from San Diego to party with us. And the brewery’s Hop Fu West Coast-style IPA was such a nice alternative to the typical hazy creations we encounter. It has won multiple World Beer Cup medals and is just jam-packed with aroma and pleasantly clean bitterness. Truly, it’s an olfactory amusement park.
Kings Pina Colada Cake Frose
In a day filled with smoothie sours, Kings, based in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., (special props to Uncle Blazer, Waymond, and the Workaholics crew) poured a batty pina colada cake creation that was stupidly thiccc and vibrant.
Special shout-out to Mortalis Dave for roaming around the Luau with a proton pack filled with barrel-aged imperial stout. When we crossed paths, he dispensed an absurd Mortalis imperial stout conditioned on Girl Scout cookies and aged in local gin barrels.
Tripping Animals Cottonmouth Water
Never expected I would enjoy Florida water so much. But Tripping Animals, a Miami-area brewery, shipped us cans of its purified water. And you could grab a can from the iced kiddie pools. Thank you, Tripping Animals. You kept all of us safe and hydrated.
Victor’s Twin Elder Brewery up for sale
Twin Elder Brewery, based at 75 Coville St. in the village of Victor, opened (in its re-branded format) in August 2018. It originally changed hands earlier that year. Twin Elder opened five years earlier (and in another location) as the VB Brewery. And now, the brewery is for sale for the second time. It moved to its current location in late spring 2022.
Owner Chris Thomas announced on Facebook Monday that the 5,000-square-foot spot is available. He said they plan to remain open until they sell. The spot features a full kitchen and sits on 1.4 acres. There is also ample parking and “adjacent businesses with great traffic,” Thoms wrote. The business is completely turnkey.
Always sad to see a local business close. But kudos to Thomas and the Twin Elder crew for making it work through a pandemic and multiple locations. Sending good vibes to everyone involved.
A final note: It’s pretty wild to think I’ve been working on this independent publication for over two years now. In that time, I’ve published 200 newsletters, highlighted some of my favorite people in the industry, curated two beers festivals (that featured 150 participants and 4,600 attendees), and continued to break all the biggest news in the region (closures, consolidations, openings, etc.).
The Cleveland Prost remains the preeminent source for regional beer news. If you own a brewery, bar, or beer-adjacent business, this is the best place to reach the nerds you wanna be in front of. So I remain open to sponsorships, advertisements, and sponsored content. Feel free to reach out to me at clevelandprost@gmail.com for more. And more than anything, thanks for all the support. None of this would be possible without the devoted (and thirsty) audience.