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Why is your Pale Ale called Pale Ale?

Wednesday Oct 31st, 2018

APA 02

Fasten your seatbelts time pilots! We're headed back to September 5th, 2014. The day before we opened up at 416 West 12th Street for our very first day of retail operation.

Nearly four years ago (as I write this) we didn't know who we were, what brand identity we were going to adopt. All Steve and I knew is we had finished our first batch of commercial beer and it was ready for consumption.

But what to name it?

A beer name should be witty, funny, meaningful, etc. We had spent so much time worrying about the eventual opening of the place we didn't have any names on a list that made any sense. One name that could never be taken from us was the style. Steve and I looked at each other, then at the beer, thought for a few moments more, then we both shrugged.

We called the beer American Pale Ale - simply the style of the beer we brewed. Our friend Metal Mike even drew up a sweet eagle logo for us for a brand logo:

EAW APA

So that's it. It was a simple combination of timing and attention that led us to this fantastic name. Our APA has become a heavily-rotating staple in our lineup and is always touted as the beer that started it all for us. We're big fans of it and we hope you take a moment and kick the tires.

As it's ever-changing, it currently includes Cascade and Centennial hops, sitting at 5.6% ABV. We hope you enjoy it.Thanks for being cool.

- Jeff