On Friday, August 7th, 4th Tap Brewing Co-op released their newest beer Stay Gold, a collaboration with 2020 Grammy Nominated Black Pumas that features can artwork by Austin’s own Rory Blank. In addition to its release, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Austin Justice Coalition, AAYHF and Austin NAACP. CraftBeerAustin.com caught up with the Black Pumas Eric Burton and Adrian Quesada and 4th Tap Brewing co-owner, John Stecker to learn more about this unique collaboration over a few beers.
CBA: So how did this Black Pumas Collaboration come about?
Stecker: Back in January we started talking and trading emails about what kind of beers their in to and what kind we like to make. Then we sent test batches back and forth and used the feedback to come up with the final recipe. It’s probably the most we’ve ever collaborated with someone on a beer.
CBA: What were your comments about the initial test batch?
Burton: For me, I’m kind of the middle of the road, and I could taste the quality and how hoppy it was, but I preferred personally it was a little sweeter and less hoppy and they did a great job working with that.
Stecker: Also, You have an old school sound with a modern take on it, and what’s cool about this beer is a hoppy pale ale, but these hops we are using, especially the cryo Mosaic, that’s a very modern way to do things. The style of the beer itself aligns with your style
Burton: It’s retro and it’s modern and we dig that! It just tasted like a beer I would take to a party and bring over to my family.
Quesada: Exactly, it’s hoppy enough to stand out but not hoppy enough to be overwhelming.
Burton: And the can looks pretty cool too!
Stecker: Rory Blank is a local comic artist and also a wrestler with Party World Rasslin’, and he’s been doing our artwork now for a couple of years. He did a one-off collaboration with us for the Art of the Brew festival and we loved it so much, we asked him to take over our can art.
CBA: How did you get into Craft Beer?
Quesada: The first beer I had in college was Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Honey Brown, which is no longer made. In my home town, we didn’t really have craft beer, so I was obsessed. so it’s great to be back to a Pale Ale.
Burton: We’ve all been to the high school party and had some pretty awful things to drink. I’ve been pretty nomadic, so I was exposed to different beers and recognized the spectrum in which beers get created, like music. One of my early favorite beers was Live Oak, since then I’ve been looking for the best song so to speak.
Quesada: Craft beer is so expansive now that you can basically live off these forever, and you go through phases, heavy IPA, then lighten up to ambers and lagers.
Stecker: I was living on West Campus, my roommate’s buddy showed up with a six-pack of Saint Arnold Lawnmower and Fat Tire. And that was the end of it.
CBA: What are the plans for the beer?
Stecker: The beer released at the brewery and at retailers around Austin, and it’s on the way to San Antonio and Houston. The original plan was for the beer to follow the band on tour, but that went sideways.
Quesada: Yeah, we are doing virtual sessions and live streams on Youtube, Instagram, the extent of we can do right now instead of four nights at Stubb’s with the beer on tap.
Burton: Honestly, as unfortunate as the situation is in terms of not being able to live shows and see people in a live setting, we are very thankful for the time that we’ve had to refine our music and being able to do the collaboration with John. We have amazing material coming out soon.
Stecker: The shutdown really gave us an opportunity to pause and really think about how we make beer and run the business. For example, we’ll keep to-go beer a permanent feature.
Black Pumas Collaboration
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Black Pumas Collaboration
Black Pumas Collaboration
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