Life is not black and white. There are shades of grey everywhere, and nowhere more than imports of often sought after American beer. Beers that a US brewer may have specifically avoided ever sending overseas have, as if by magic, appeared overseas. It's what's known as the grey market, an unofficial but not illegal means of obtaining goods.
Grey market beer tends to meet a mixed reception. On one hand people are able to get beer they'd never otherwise be able to get. On the other, there may be few quality controls on how that beer is transported, and that can be problematic when you're talking about sending highly hopped beers in unrefrigerated containers for weeks-long trips across the equator. But in the end, well, America, capitalism, etc.
Which brings us to the forthcoming Red, White & Grey Day at Carwyn Cellars. Starting on July 4 they've decided to put it all on the line and out in the open by putting grey market American beers through their taps for two weeks. That way, you can be the judge of whether a shady import of one of the world's foremost IPAs is still mind-blowing, whether you ought to stick with the local stuff, or whether you can't tell the damn difference.
So, they've pulled together an impression collection of names – it's up to you to decide if you wan to go grey this Independence Day:
- Alesmith .394 San Diego Pale Ale 6% American Pale Ale
- Alesmith IPA 7.25% IPA
- Alesmith X 5.25% Extra Pale Ale
- Boulevard Tank 7 8.5% Saison
- Boulevard The Calling 8.5% Imperial IPA
- Firestone Walker 805 4.7% Golden Ale
- Firestone Walker Double Barrel 5% ESB/British Pale
- Firestone Walker Double Jack 9.5% Imperial IPA
- Firestone Walker Easy Jack 4.5% Session IPA
- Firestone Walker Union Jack 7.5% IPA
- Lost Abbey Avant Garde 7% Bière de Garde
- Lost Abbey Devotion 6.25% Belgian Blonde Ale
- Lost Abbey Judgment Day 10.5% Belgian Quadrupel
- Lost Abbey Lost & Found 8% Abbey Dubbel
- Lost Abbey Red Barn 6.7% lightly spiced Saison
- Dogfish Head 90 Minute 9% Imperial IPA
- Dogfish Head Immort Ale 11% peat smoked Barley Wine brewed with maple syrup, vanilla, and juniper
- Dogfish Head India Brown Ale 7.2% hoppy Brown Ale
- Dogfish Head Romantic Chemistry 7.2% IPA with mango, apricot & ginger
