Positive Friday - Indisputable Wednesday

Indisputable Wednesday pours a bright golden and very lightly hazy color, topped by a crop of persistent foam. Brewed with Simcoe and an undisclosed HBC (Hop Breeding Company) experimental hop, this IPA delivers bold citrus aromas with some tropical shades jumping out right away, backed by impressions of pine resin and touches of apricot-like stone fruit. Look for the story to continue much the same on the palate where notes of grapefruit and orange zest lead the way with a touch of herbal pine and an amalgam of more subtle fruit tones. Per the West Coast style, the malt backbone here is quite sturdy without grabbing our attention, providing plenty of support and contributing to a medium body while letting those hop notes take the leading roles. For pairing options, spicy Thai and Vietnamese dishes are our go-tos with West Coast IPAs and should serve you well with this one, along with Baja-style fish tacos with lime crema. Fattier dishes like burgers and pizza should work nicely, as well. Cheers!

The story of Positive Friday is intrinsically linked to the venerable Millstream Brewing Company in Amana, Iowa, which opened in 1985. In March of 2021, Millstream was acquired by Steve & Susan Charlier and their business partner Justin Cohanim while the previous owners, Tom & Teresa Albert, continued as owners of the adjacent Millstream Brau Haus. The new owners sought to maintain the brewery’s core, often traditional German-style beers while expanding the lineup to include more contemporary styles. They also added a canning line to adapt to the modern demand for this packaging format.

Tom, Teresa, and Justin launched the Positive Friday brand in 2021 to provide an avenue to their brewers for experimentation into new styles and a more nimble vehicle for them to get these new creations into the hands of beer lovers much faster, and to a larger audience than the more local-centric Millstream brand. As Justin explained to us, at Millstream the process to introduce a new beer can take months, with multiple pilot batches sold largely out of the taproom. With Positive Friday, they’ve created a separate entity, one in which they hand the reins entirely to their very experienced brewing staff and tell them to come up with something new and exciting – which immediately gets created and distributed within just a few weeks, and to a broader market at that.

As of this writing, they’ve released several new beers including both West Coast and New England Hazy IPAs, Wheat Ale, Vienna Lager, German Pils, and a rather bold Irish Red boasting a stronger than normal ABV. We’re looking forward to seeing what they come up with next.