As Mayor Vaughn so eloquently stated, “It’s going to be our best summer in years. If you’re so concerned about the beaches, you two, you do whatever you have to to keep them safe, but with you or without you, those beaches will be open for this weekend.”
Ah, the harrowing forecast of a typecasted 1970s small-town mayor, who could not see the sheer breadth of terror he was bringing on the small island of Amity. Well, that’s life, and Jaws well got a scuba tank followed by a bullet, right in the kisser. And, now all these years later, we here in the mid-coast are celebrating his “Jawsness” with new beers from Main & Mills Artist Series.
The Backstory
Last year Main & Mill began its Artist Spotlight Series, based on the brewing team’s love of nostalgic movies, games, books, music—”whatever makes you think of growing up when things seemed much easier,” says Foster.
They wanted to bring nostalgic-driven fun to their labels in a way that allows the artists to pick the muses. “Our process has been pretty simple,” explains Foster. “We want to use what they create and inspire a beer that we feel fits that label as perfectly as possible.”
The second installment in the Artists Spotlight Series, The Jaws Series, is the work of New York-based artist Andrew Krahnke and will feature a dozen labels telling the story of the great white shark.
Summer Town is label 3 in series and Beaches Will Be Open is label 4.“Like the rest of our artist series, we brew to the label rather than have the art done to suit the beer,” said Main & Mill owner Denny Foster. “In this case, both scenes Andrew did were warm and exciting. The idea of a vacation to an island in “Summer Town” and the return to the beaches in “Beaches Will Be Open.”
Both names come directly from the source material and led Main & Mill in the direction of beers they love to enjoy on vacation and on the beach. “We wanted two beers that have a reasonable ABV while also being beers that could be the go-to beverage for an entire trip,” said Foster.
Summer Town
In Summer Town, Foster wanted a nice hazy pale ale that isn’t just a lower ABV IPA, but a balanced approach to bitterness while remaining bright and enjoyable. They used a combo of Galaxy, Enigma, and Strata giving it a nice tropical, stone fruit-like characteristic with a pineapple-like finish.
Beaches Will Be Open
A clean lager, with the addition of lime, makes this the perfect beach beer. An added agave nectar really adds an element we haven’t seen in the style.
Tasting Notes:
1. How does the beer pour and appear at first glance? Summer Town pours a hazy pale yellow with moderate foam and lacing. Beaches pours a slightly hazy straw yellow.
2. Can you describe this beer’s bouquet on the nose? Summer Town is a mix of tropical aromas with the most present being stone fruit and pineapple. Beaches Will Be Open has distinct notes of lime with a light malt background.
3. What flavors can we expect when we first try this beer? Summer Town is juicy but not sweet with just enough bittering charge to bring things into balance. Beaches is like adding a small lime wedge to your favorite lager at home or a restaurant. It truly makes this beer into a summer pool/beach drink…clean and crisp with a noticeable lime character.
4. What food or situation would you pair this beer with? Summer Town – pizza, burgers, and wings — playings bags or washers, BBQing in the nice weather, sitting on the porch watching the sun drop into the awesome pinks and blue shades of summer. Beaches Will Be Open – tacos, burritos, tacos, nachos, tacos — by a pool, reading a book in the sun, hanging at the beach, or hitting the river.
