Drink This Beer: Back Forty The Mandarin Chief
It’s definitely the most amazing and huge Drink This Beer of all time.
We talked to Jason Wilson, founder and CEO of Back Forty Beer Company in Gadsden, Alabama about the release of their seasonal IPA, The Mandarin Chief.
What can you tell us about the development of The Mandarin Chief?
The brewers had been working on an Imperial Black IPA recipe for a while, but the heat from the ABV was just too pronounced. That led to experiments with a few different fruits to try and balance out the finish.
Where did the combination of Black IPA and mandarin oranges come from?
Mandarin oranges just ended up working really well to balance out the heat and compliment the big hop additions. You also get a little bit of that orange & chocolate flavor combination, which is pretty common in the culinary world.
Ok, it took three questions before getting to this one: Mandarin Chief. Orange. President. Was that just a lucky draw on your part, or have you been planning this one since election day?
Everyone asks if it’s s a parody or tribute to President Trump. My answer is always the same, “yes”. 🙂
True Story: The beer tasting panel happened sometime last fall during the campaign. We were all sitting around and someone made the predictable “this beer is HUGE” joke, then someone blurted out “What about Mandarin Chief…instead of Commander In Chief?”. Everyone in our marketing department slowly turned their heads with a weird little grin on their faces. That’s usually when I know we have a beer named.
What’s been the response to it?
What do you think? Terrific, Huge, Big League, Fantastic! It’s probably the biggest craft beer release of all time. At least that’s what my people are telling me… and believe me, I know all the top people. Too bad all the fake craft beer news isn’t covering it….You can get real news about the beer straight from the source @mandarinchief. Seriously though, the response has been better than we expected. We’ve got another 120 bbls or so in the tank right now, so hopefully people continue to enjoy it.
You recently completed an expansion at your brewery. What can we expect from Back Forty now that’s done?
For the last eight years we have tried to focus on classic beer styles that would win over new craft beer consumers in chain accounts and volume retailers, allowing us to reach a sustainable operating size as quickly as possible.
Now that we’ve pretty much established our distribution footprint, we are finally able to let the brewers out of the cage. They have been patiently waiting for the opportunity to showcase their brewing abilities, and this recent expansion is 100% committed to that concept. We will release over a dozen new beers in 2017.
What’s coming up next for Back Forty?
We just finished up our seasonal run of Peanut Butter Porter. We’ve got another batch of Mandarin Chief to package, then it’s on to our next project; “ALE-A-BAMA”, a 13.9% Quad Red IPA…..13.9% is the legal limit in Alabama, so we decided to test the boundary with this recipe… it’s juicy.
After that, we will be moving on to the next release in our random release IPA series…. JALAPANGO! a Jalapeno & Mango infused spin off of our award winning Freckle Belly IPA.
Also, we just locked in our distilling permit….Look out for some pretty exciting stuff from Back Forty Spirits in the craft cocktail world this year!
For more info on your favorite beer and breweries check out the Drink This Beer Craft Beer Podcast. New episodes every other Tuesday. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you like what we’re doing, please leave us a review.On Drink This Beer we talk to craft beer creators and innovators across the US and around the world. Want to hear your favorite brewery on an episode? Just drop us a line and let us know!
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