With 8000+ breweries and emergent smootheries and seltzeries in the marketplace today, there is a pressing need to innovate to survive. Some breweries thrive by staunchly sticking to their old methods. In the sleepy Pennsylvania hamlet of Selin’s Grove, home to the “world’s largest banana split” the future lies within the past.

Back in 2011 on Beer Advocate, he said while whittling, Selin’s Grove Brewing IPA was on the Top 100 Beers of Fame. It was extremely hard to trade for since no one really lives near this remote PA town. I guess ask your friends from Harrisburg, or Wilkes-Barre to make the drive. Also, the beer was only allowed offsite in growlers with French gaskets. These would act like paint packs in bank robbery films and immediately blow up once you shipped them.

After a few botched trades and PA friends confused as hell with what I wanted, I finally tried Selin’s Grove IPA and it crushed. This is that beer, renamed, with a different abv (?) Part of the vibe is the Kuhnhennesque complete lack of fucks to give.

So now in the present we have this amber, dank, c60 bomb of malt and evergreen, 3000’ conifer line, absolute duraflame meets resin in the best way possible. It is like the best and cleanest example of the excesses of the IBU war era. Taking a sip out of this you fall out of your rhizome time machine and see people typing on T Mobile Sidekicks, wearing multiple polo shirts with popped collars. The ambient stickiness of warrior hops and puka shells fills the room.

Is there a function for this past literally preserved in amber? Absolutely. First, this beer remains delicious and wholly immune to market influences. That in itself is crazy refreshing. Second, there’s a malty historical revisionism that consumes and disposes of fading styles. There’s power in focusing on the past for growth, like that dude who owns a heavily modded Ford Raptor but refuses to go to therapy.

This isn’t a whale, loaded with fruit, 1pp, invite only, raffle destroyer, eggdrop soup can collab with Visvim. It’s an extremely malty amber IPA. If you can’t handle that there are plenty of vapid Sunny D hazecan accounts on IG with Tavour associate links for you to use.