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The Good Clown - Clown Shoes, Galactica (IPA)

8/23/2014

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A little over two years ago, I took a work trip to Philly where my company is based.  I had just started with the firm, and they had flown me across country to meet my boss as well as some other ice breaker shenanigans.  I landed on a Thursday, which was coincidentally the first official start day of the 2012 NFL season.  I ventured out into the streets of Philadelphia to find a good beer bar, watch “the game,” and fill up on some grub.  I know what you’re thinking but no, I did not see Bruce Springsteen or Tom Hanks for that matter.  Instead, I came across Perch Pub where I was first introduced to Clown Shoes Beer, a brewery based out of Ipswich, Massachusetts. 

At this time in my life, I was obsessed with brown ales.  I mean, I’ve always had a thing for liquid sweetness (hello, Rogue’s Hazelnut Brown!), but that was kind of all I drank back then.  I asked the bartender for a recommendation and he pointed me to the Clown Shoes’ Pimp.  First, Clown Shoes?  Second, Pimp?  YES!  One maybe two sips in, and I was hooked.  The thought of pimps and brown ale just really made sense to me and all of my taste buds. 

When I returned to the Bay, I was on the hunt for Clown Shoes only to learn that there was no distribution to the state.  Boy, was I disappointed.  All I could talk about was Clown Shoes this and Clown Shoes that.  Did you I tell you about that Pimp ale?  My friends understood that I was #obsessed.  Well, lucky for me, Clown Shoes started distributing out in my hood about a year later.  Unfortunately, Pimp had been put behind bars forever, or retired as the website states, and I was never able to try it again.  But regardless, Clown Shoes had a friend in me.  BevMo carried it for a hot second (and maybe they still do) but only in very limited styles.  Some of the label designs and names of the beer are a little too risqué for corporate entities.  Funny, I don't recall ever seeing Clown Shoes' labels like Tramp Stamp, Vampire Slayer (now Undead Party Crasher), and Pimp in a BevMo. 

Fast forward to August 2014 when I walked into The Good Hop, Oakland’s newest bottle shop, for the first time and spotted not one but FIVE different types of Clown Shoes.  Ding, ding, ding - We have a winner!!!  I picked up the Galactica to drink onsite and the Undead Party Crasher to drink at home. 

Galactica tastes like your standard east coast IPA –  great day-time, warm weather kind of beer but don’t expect a lot of hops. 

Side note:  Be on the lookout for Clown Shoes’ Pecan Porter.  If you want to celebrate the fall and you’re not into pumpkin ales, this is EXACTLY the beer for you.  I discovered it last November on tap at Beer Rev.  It tastes just as it sounds. 



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    Domenica Curran is an Oakland gal with a passion for craft brews and the stories behind them.

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