DANVERS, MA — Lost Shoe Brewing and Roasting owner and head brewer JP Gallagher got a compelling text message from his friend and counterpart, David Pinette of Twisted Fate Brewing of Danvers, a few months back, about an idea he had for a unique challenge for this year's Mass Brewers Guild Craft Beer Festival.
What if Lost Shoe, Twisted Fate, and maybe two more of their Bay State brewer colleagues took on the task of using the same base ingredients to make a special brew for this year's event, where attendees could then compare and contrast each craft brewer's take on the exact same style?
"I wasn't sure where it was going to go," Pinette told Patch ahead of Saturday's two-session event at Cyclorama in Boston's South End. "At first, I was thinking of a draft, where we each picked an element of the beer and had all the same ingredients. Ultimately, we decided on the same style with the same Galaxy hops. Then it's everyone's interpretation of what it will be like.
"There are so many variables that you can give 10 brewers the exact same recipe, and you are going to get 10 different beers. I am intrigued about how everything is going to turn out. I can't wait to see the other versions."
The Choose Your Own Adventure New England-Style IPAs from Twisted Fate of Danvers, Lost Shoe of Marlboro, Dirigible Brewing Company of Littleton, and Time & Materials of Reading will all be unveiled at Saturday's two festival sessions. The name is based on the children's fantasy book series from the 1980s and 1990s, with each brewery making a specific label for their own beer based on the books.
"I thought it was a cool thing to try at the annual beer fest," Pinette said. "You can get lost in a beer fest with 40 other breweries, where not everyone will try every little thing. I thought this would be a fun little thing that people would remember."
Pinette said that while he has hints from the other breweries about their take on the hazy IPA, they have each tried to keep things close to the vest.
"I want it to be a surprise for me," he said.
Gallagher told Patch he hopes the concept will attract attendees to the styles from breweries across eastern and central Massachusetts, and perhaps allow them to stand out in the crowd at a time when the craft beer industry is looking to spark interest amid market pressures and shifts in drinking habits.
"You can't just show up at a beer fest anymore as you had in the past and just bring your flagship beer," said Gallagher, whose brewery is celebrating its seventh anniversary with a block party and 5K race in downtown Marlboro on May 9. "As an industry, we have to make these events more exciting and play on a theme. You want to bring something different.
"I think the really cool thing about doing this collab is that this will be an opportunity for people to try all these four beers in one place instead of driving to Marlboro, and then to Littleton, and Danvers, and then Time & Materials doesn't have a brick-and-mortar building, so you would have to catch them at a farmer's market.
"This is doing something to incentivize people to come out and enjoy these beer fests."
This weekend's festival is the marquee event for the Mass. Brewers Guild, which promotes and advocates for the craft brewing community in the Bay State.
This year's theme is inspired by Germany's beloved Frühlingsfest — Oktoberfest's lively, easygoing "little sister"— which Brewers Guild Executive Director Katie Stinchon said is intended to bring "the spirit of Munich and Stuttgart to Boston for a one-day festival bursting with energy, flavor, and community."
There is an afternoon (1 to 4 p.m.) and evening (5 to 8 p.m.) session featuring the 40 Massachusetts brewers, as well as German-inspired food, live music, and the "joyful, relaxed atmosphere that defines Frühlingsfest abroad."
Tickets for both sessions are $55, plus fees, and are available here.
The craft brewing industry has transformed in recent years post-COVID, with some breweries closing, as others have opened, and mergers becoming increasingly common throughout the industry, as owners look to maximize resources.
Pinette said collaborations are part of that, as brewers come together and share costs on a style that may be prohibitive to experiment with on your own if you are not certain the product will quickly move off the shelves and be popular within the taprooms.
He said the Twisted Fate "Choose Your Adventure" brew will be available at the beerfest sessions on Saturday, and then for a limited time at the taproom locations in Danvers and Revere until the two kegs and 15 cases with the specialty labels are gone.
"This is a New England IPA, so in Massachusetts, those do go like crazy," he said. "I expect it to be completely gone in a week or two."
Pinette said that if the four-part collaboration is a success, he would like to expand it to include more breweries for next year's festival.
"Definitely, doing collabs keeps things fresh," he said. "It's a weird time right now in the beer world. It's like a perfect storm. Everyone is on a cycle that goes up and down. You have people who are not drinking as much. But at the same time, I just saw something that showed that craft beer numbers are now going back up."
"One of my favorite parts of being in the industry is how collaborative and supportive it is," Gallagher concluded. "That doesn't feel like it's going anywhere.
"Which is good."
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