DENVER—Black Shirt Brewing Co is exceptionally proud to officially announce its bottle conditioned program, Situation of Measures (or SOM, as it’s affectionately referred to in-house).
To date, the brewery has released SOM’s first three bottles: A Bright Hello (mixed culture Saison); Pleasure to Meet You (dry hopped mixed culture Saison); and Until We Meet Again (mixed culture Saison with raw honey). Fermented with a house culture blend, these Saisons are built to be bottle conditioned to allow the beer to develop greater complexity.
“Our house culture is a blend that I have been building since my homebrew days,” said David Sakolsky, Black Shirt’s head brewer. He goes on to explain how two of the acid-producing bacterial strains and one of the Brettanomyces strains came from good old-fashioned yeast-and-bacterial wrangling at his family’s cattle farm in New Hampshire. One of the acid producers was caught in the southwest corner of the apple orchard; the Brettanomyces, along with the other acid producer, was captured near the pear tree and wild berry bushes.
“We had a good little selection, including raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and the occasional wild strawberry or two,” adds Sakolsky. “I was pretty ecstatic when both locations yielded viable results with minimal coaxing. The Brett is strangely aggressive when compared to the commercial pitches I’ve tried, but the whole blend has served me well over the years.” 
Sourcing high-quality ingredients from small farms around the world – New England, Indonesia, Vietnam, among others – puts a distinct spin on the SOM program, which includes curated oak-aged blends and single barrels alongside the aforementioned mixed culture offerings. The barrel-aged arm of SOM was conceived as a way for Black Shirt to “showcase vibrant tastes interlacing with artfully-nuanced bases,” said Sakolsky. A majority of the beers will be packaged in 500mL bottles, with a limited number of magnums released for special occasions. All bottles are available exclusively at Black Shirt’s taproom at 3719 Walnut Street.
Black Shirt’s decided pivot from its previous distribution model to one that’s more brewpub-centric – complete with a full kitchen, smaller production footprint, and greater variety of beer styles – continues to evolve, and thus far has proven to be a winning combination for the seven-year young brewery. “The Situation of Measures bottle program is a natural progression for us,” says Meghan Howes, director of communications. “Utilizing David’s expertise and skill, we’re able to offer our guests beer that’s compelling and noteworthy. And in a market full of too much sameness, that’s what truly matters.”
Questions about the Situation of Measures program? Black Shirt’s Director of Communications, Meghan Howes, is happy to answer them. You can reach her at press@blackshirtbrewingco.comor 303-726-9177.
About Black Shirt Brewing Co
When you visit Black Shirt, expect the whole package: a warm and welcoming taproom, delicious craft beer and food, and superlative service, all imbued with a DIY ethos and rough-hewn aesthetic. We’ve been handcrafting expressive, delicious ales in Denver’s Cole neighborhood/RiNo Art District since 2012, and in 2017, we opened our small but mighty artisan pizza kitchen. Guests can also enjoy live music every Friday night, either in our brewhouse (The Brewhouse Sessions) or on the one-of-a-kind pallet stage in our beer garden (BSB Live and Outside).
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