Cape May Brewing Co. Innovation Director Brian Hink Talks Irrationally Exuberant

We spoke with Cape May Brewing Co. Innovation Director Brian Hink about Irrationally Exuberant.

BC: Who came up with this beer’s recipe?
This is actually a really straightforward and simple recipe, designed to let the resident bugs in the barrel to shine: only premium German Pilsner malt, a touch of Melanoidin malt, and a delicate helping of noble Saaz hops. The real star in this beer is the bug blend in the barrel, which originated as Bug County from our friend Al Buck over at East Coast Yeast but evolved over repeated barrel fills and cross-blending with other blends of wild yeast and bacteria -- it's become the resident house culture in our sour brewery.

BC: What’s your favorite aspect of this beer (flavor, aroma, etc.)?
The balanced acidity, firm funk character, simple base grain bill -- everything works in harmony with this one.

BC: Where does this beer’s name come from?
When we were revising how we packaged and released our sour releases for these brands that are one-and-done and never to exist again, I pushed hard to have interesting sayings as the names of the releases. With the first round of beers, we went with variations on the theme of building a boat: The Keel, The Skeg, The Scupper and The Topsail. For the second round of releases, we went with ghost stories of Cape May: Brothel Madam, Higbee, Phantom Crew and Lady in Room #10. We spent a painstaking amount of time on coming up with all of them, so I started throwing out "names" like Temporarily Permanent, Fleetingly Anchored, Possibly Maybe and Irrationally Exuberant. It has literally nothing to do with the beer and might as well have been pulled from a random word generator, but the obscure-sounding names worked well.

BC: Is this your “desert island beer?”
Yeah, I could definitely drink this one again and again. It's balanced and refreshing, and it's high enough in alcohol to sustain you for a while. I'm very proud of how this beer came out and, yeah, this is one I could drink again and again.

BC: Can you describe this beer in 10 words or less?
Well-balanced yet with a ton of complexity.  

BC: What's a good food pairing for this beer?
Sushi! The sour profile pairs perfectly with sushi and ginger.

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