You guys! This was the SECOND beer we EVER made at Cloudburst – filling a virgin, empty tank on November 6, 2015.  And for our 5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY, we wanted to bring it back, in all it’s outdated glory (ok, we modernized it a titch). Our previous description of this beer was pretty straightforward so we wanted to use this opportunity to elaborate on this beer – why it means so much to us and so much to Seattle craft beer – so gather round, youths. It’s story time! 

A version of “this” IPA has existed since ~1989, in the vein of Scarlet Fire IPA – brewed at Big Time Brewing (who is still going strong, btw!). To us, there is no truer NW IPA. This is where the style is born.  In 1998, that beer even won a GABF medal in the IPA category (some of you reading this weren’t even born then). The brewers that came through Big Time Brewing (& Pike Brewing, & Hale’s at that) – Ed Tringali, Jason Parker, Fal Allen, Larry Rock, Bill Jenkins, Kevin Forhan, Dick Cantwell, among others – are fucking legends that we all owe a debt of gratitude towards. When those brewers moved outward and upward, they’d take that evolving Scarlet Fire recipe with them, continue to tweak it, and call it their own. Hence, Elysian’s Prometheus IPA was born when Dick opened up shop –  which was an IPA that both Steve and Zach enjoyed drinking and brewing in the early ‘10s. Thus was the reasoning, back in 2015, when Steve broke up with the brewery formerly independently operating as Elysian, that he felt it was his responsibility to carry the torch and keep the spirit and soul of “this” IPA burning. Old Flame was born. And we hope someday, future Seattle breweries that don’t even exist yet steal this fire and pass it on. We all exist because of this spark. And that’s the tale. 

So, what is “this” version all about? Well, it has not one but TWO types of CRYSTAL MALT in it, along with some Munich malt as well. So yeah, there is a fucking malt presence in this hoppy ding dong. And it’s hopped with Chinook, Centennial, Cascade, Amarillo, and Citra cryo (we said we could tweak it, ok?!).  Still, there’s PINE. Resin. Grapefruit. Citrus Peel. Leather & breadcrust.  And yes, this a modern take – we used brewing salts, and pH adjustments, and it’s not nearly as bitter as it could (should?) be and it has a dry hop rate of 3#/bbl – an ungodly amount in the early 90s.  But the soul and intention is there, and that is what counts.  We hope you enjoy it for what it is. It’s been here for 31 years. And we hope it’s around for that many years to come. Thank you for reading our TED talk.