Working our way through core beer land, we arrive at the two of the more bucolic images we use in our labels. As Red Barn was part or our original core four let’s start with this image. The beer (recipe) migrated over from my time at Pizza Port. Originally brought to life as SPF 45 Saison, this beer featured Ginger, Orange Peel, Pepper and a dash of Grains of Paradise. The first iteration of this beer would have been brewed likely around 2002 and it’s completely possible that it was the first “Saison” to have been brewed in San Diego.

The name Red Barn focused the transition away from surf based beer names in a very simple way. Some years later (probably around 2010) I was at an event and another brewer told me a story about how they needed a name for their Saison. The owner suggested Red Barn and the brewer replied that would be a stupid name! At that point they googled it and realized we had been using the name and suddenly it seemed much less stupid.

Red Barns have always been an iconic image one replete with farms, tilling of soil and crop rotations. The very notion of a Red Barn immediately triggers the brain to think farming, harvests and country life. Getting Sean to bring this image to life was very simple. The art direction was thus: Hillside, placid river and a Red Barn off in the distance.

Original Lost Abbey Red Barn Painting by Sean Dominguez

In looking at the finished piece I have always been enamored by the greens and yellows and how vibrant that river seems to be. This also became the first in many of our delivered artwork with some peculiar takeaways. First, who builds a barn that close to a river? Seems like a flood plain disaster nightmare if you ask me. Second if you look closer, you’ll notice that there’s nary a farm or outcropping nearby. Whose barn is this? What purpose does it serve? Indeed, there’s not even a road or a dusty trail running up to it. Seems like a very strange barn…

In 2012 we were approached about doing an art event where a teacher would take a piece of our art and explain to the class (customers) how to paint it during the class. Red Barn seemed like one of the easier things to do so we presented this option, brought some of our beers and I even coaxed Sean to head down and paint a newer version of the art. You can see here in this picture (he’s on the left). No one in the class knew he was the original artist until we did a big reveal at the end. The look on their faces still cracks me up.

Devotion wasn’t part of the original core four when we opened our doors. Hell, it wasn’t even my idea for the beer. But back in 2007 I was approached by my dear friend Tom Peters (Owner of Monk’s Cafe in Philadelphia). As one of the premier beer bars in the world, Tom has literally explored the world of Belgian Beers from top to bottom and his knowledge of these beers and their producers is second to none.

For their 1oth Anniversary he asked if we’d be willing to take a stab at creating an homage beer. Like many brewers he held the Blond (Green Label) beer from Westvleteren in high regard. It just so happened to be my favorite beer in their range. So bringing this beer to life seemed like a no brainer.

What’s great about this recipe is how simple the beer is. Two Malts, two hops and some brewing sugars to dry the beer out. It’s 6% ABV, dry hopped and bone dry. As I mentioned in the previous blog the yeast is the same as Lost and Found and Judgment Day. The beer has been brewed continuously since 2007 and gained full time status once batch #2 was put in the fermenter. At the time it was the most hop forward Lost Abbey beer. Like Farmhouse Lager, it is the only other Lost Abbey beer to have been packaged in 750 ml, 12 ounce bottles and now 16 ounce cans. It is a beer that endured to say the least.

The art direction for this was also quite simple. I wanted evoke the hop growing and the farming activities accordingly. There is a hop growing region in Flanders, Belgium and it is called Poperinge and it’s quite close to Westvleren. For our Devotion art I asked Sean to locate a hop field near a monastery (let’s call it Found Abbey). He added a tractor and that’s how Devotion came to be one of our year round beers.

Red Barn and Devotion

In Illa Brettanomyces Nos Fides

Red Barn and Devotion

Lost Judgment

In Illa Brettanomyces Nos Fides