Cape May Brewing Co. Head Brewer Brian Hink Talks Boat Ramp Champ

We spoke with Cape May Brewing Co. Head Brewer Brian Hink about Boat Ramp Champ.

BC: Who came up with this beer’s recipe?
As a Helles Lager, this beer is all about tradition, good brewing practices, choice ingredients and cold conditioning time. While, technically speaking, a few of us at Cape May can take credit for the proportions of grain and hops and water: our dedicated lab team can take credit for making the all-important yeast happy and healthy, and our wonderful production team took extreme pride in executing such a delicate and elegantly simplistic beer, but I think it would be disingenuous to say anyone other than the historic brewers from Munich, Germany can truly take credit for this wonderfully simplistic approach to beer craft.

While not typically a style we tackle here at Cape May - at this point, we're more known for heavily fruited beers, hazy IPAs, sours and overall just brewing an eclectic variety of beers - this delicate and approachable beer was thoughtfully crafted with our good friends over at The Qualified Captain. An Instagram account showcasing boating fails and safety tips, The Qualified Captain is also a lifestyle and clothing brand similar to the vibe one thinks about when thinking about Cape May: boating, beaching, relaxing with friends and we decided to brew a beer perfect for all of those occasions.

BC: What’s your favorite aspect of this beer (flavor, aroma, etc.)?
This beer is in perfect harmony with itself. Enough grainy, bready sweetness to let you know you're not drinking a pilsner, enough hop bite to let you know you're not drinking mass-produced macro swill, and just enough of that classic aromatic lager yeast presence to let you know the yeast was treated just right, I think Boat Ramp Champ is just lovely.

BC: Where does this beer’s name come from?
One of the most repeated boating fails showcased on The Qualified Captain’s social media includes a weekend warrior backing their trailer into the water in multiple failed attempts to launch the boat, resulting in clogging the ramp, an embarrassing video, a tainted ego and a waterlogged truck. This person is commonly known as, you guessed it, a Boat Ramp Champ. When meeting with Lauren and Aaron Stasiak, the brother sister duo behind The Qualified Captain, we approached them with the idea of using Boat Ramp Champ as a name for our collaboration and all parties unanimously agreed it was the perfect name for this crisp and crushable Helles Lager.

BC: Is this your “desert island beer?”
I haven't stopped drinking this since it released in early April, and I sure as hell don't plan on stopping until the supply runs out!

BC: Can you describe this beer in 10 words or less?
Clean. Classic. Elegant. Unadorned in all the right ways.

Read Review