This time last year, when Bob and I were still running Good Chemistry just the two of us, we were getting pretty sick of the grey, wet, miserable British winter. Working seven days a week in chilly conditions at GCHQ, we dreamed of lying by the pool or on the beach, supping tropical cocktails under palm trees and sunshine. These unattainable daydreams spurred us on to brew a beer to represent this escapism – and so Kokomo Weekend was born! We launched it at our brilliant tap takeover at The Greenbank in Easton at the end of February, and the first batch was all sold before it even came out of tank.
It’s now a year later, and we’re looking forward to brewing Kokomo Weekend again – we are excited to announce that it will be pouring at the brewery tap at our re-opening on Friday 27th and Saturday 28th April. But we know that’s AGES away, so this week we’ve brewed a brand new beer to keep you going till Kokomo Weekend returns. May we introduce KOKOMO WEEKDAY!
At 4.3% this is your go-to beer when you need the hit of tropical hops but not the big abv. Like its bigger brother, it has a restrained bitterness, with Mosaic and Azacca from the USA packing big fruity hoppy punches. Plus, where the original Kokomo came just in keg, we’re putting Kokomo Weekday into cask as well, so some venues that weren’t able to pour Weekend will be getting their hands on this one!
The response we got from Kokomo Weekend was incredible. The second time we brewed it, for the East Bristol Brewery Trail at the end of April (pictured above), we dressed the brewery, and ourselves, to match the occasion, with Hawaiian shirts, inflatable parrots, palm trees swaying in the St Philips breeze, pineapples hanging from the newly-built mezzanine, and liberal plays of the Beach Boys’ Kokomo, from which we took inspiration for the beer’s name. People came along in their own Hawaiian attire, including lei and sunglasses, and we loved sharing this beer with you.
Favourite Beers in Cheltenham, which had Kokomo Weekend on keg more than once last year (a rarity for the bottle shop), voted our beer their eighth fave of 2017 (check it out here: http://www.favouritebeers.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Top-12-beers-2017.pdf).
We really hope Kokomo Weekday will be just as popular, and look forward to drinking it with you. Come join us across Bristol (see map above) and specifically at the Pineapple on Thursday 22nd February when we’ll be enjoying a Kokomo Weekday. Send us your pictures on social media using the hashtag #KokomoWeekday so we can see what you’re up to!
Till then – cheers!
