Malt, Hops Rules!

The East Coast vs. West Coast Punk Rock Brew Tour kicks off its fourth year on August 12 at Idle Hands in New York City.

The antidote for a near endless run of template tap takeovers, EC/WC is brought to you by four of America's leading breweries: Smuttynose, Lagunitas, Sixpoint and Sierra Nevada.

How is EC/WC different? 1) Each brewery will be bringing an IPA and a lighter offering (think pilsner, kolsch, summer beer). Any other beers (and there WILL be other beers) will be aged, rare or in some cases, brewery-only. The lists will vary for each event. 2) Tour stops will feature either live punk, metal or stoner rock bands or DJ sets spinning heavy tunes from both coasts. 3) Sunday events are afternoon matinees. 4) There are 18 events in 3 weeks.

All dates will feature additional guest breweries, like Dark Horse, Bronx Brewing, Great Lakes and Troegs. Sunday shows will be brunch matinees and seven or eight events will feature live bands. 

Unlike Warped Tour, we'll have much better beer, no underage kids and certainly no signs telling you not mosh or crowd surf. This is the summertime heavy music experience you really want!

For updates and some of our favorite videos, make sure to follow East Coast West Coast on Facebook.

Smuttlabs: Brett & I returns!

Heads up, funky beer junkies!

Brett & I, the newest Smuttlabs release is packaged and ready to go.

We'll be releasing bottles at the Towle Farm brewery on Saturday, August 2 at 11am. The crown-finished, 375ml bottles are $12 each and there is no bottle limit. There are 24 cases, which maths into 288 bottles. We won't be filling growlers with Brett & I, due to the limited amount of beer we have.

If you don't live near the brewery, fret not. Kegs will begin shipping to wholesalers in CT, DC, IL, MA, MD, ME, NC, NH, NY, PA,VA, and VT on Monday, August 4.

What is Brett & I? Brett & I is a 6%, barrel-aged, golden beer that takes 13 months to make. After an initial fermentation with our house Trappist ale yeast, the beer is transferred to red wine barrels where it ages with a Brettanomyces Bruxellensis, a yeast first discovered in British beers. "Brett Brux" adds the slightly sour, earthy accent which makes Brett & I such a rare treat.

We've released Brett & I twice in the past, which means some of you have been waiting patiently for this next release. We hope you enjoy this release too.