News

- by Kendall Jones, Washington Beer Blog -

Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery announced recently that it has released its first beer. The release party happened at Pillagers Pub in Seattle on Thursday, October 27th and the beer is now available at select pubs and alehouses around the Seattle area. The inaugural beer is an IPA named Fly-PA. Ingredients were sourced by co-op members and the beer was brewed at Three Skulls Brewing in Seattle.

Flying Bike is a unique idea. You can read previous stories about Flying Bike on the Washington Beer Blog. Nearest we can tell, it is the first brewery of its type in Washington and one of the only cooperative breweries in the country.

The membership drive was met with a great deal of enthusiasm by local beer lovers who wanted a stake in the brewery and at least some kind of input into what kind of beers the brewery produces.

The Fly-PA is the result of a membership brewing competition. That is, members submitted their homebrew to a tasting panel made up of BJCP judges and co-op members. The winning brew received the honor of being Flying Bike’s first beer.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery
[email protected]
www.flyingbike.coop

Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery Releases Their First Beer! Announces new Board member

Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery has announced the release of their first beer! An IPA (dubbed Fly-PA), was member-sourced, and brewed by Three Skulls Ales.

A release party will be held at Pillagers Pub (8551 Greenwood Avenue N) on Thursday,

October 27. The first kegs will be tapped at 7PM! Growler fills will be available, but please bring your own growler. The party is open to members and non-members alike.

The beer was created as part of a member brewing competition. In July, members voted for ‘IPA’ to be the category for the first Coop beer competition. Thirty-five members entered the competition. In September, BJCP judges and Coop members meticulously tasted the beers, and after several hours a winner was crowned! The winning recipe was created by member Mike Kilpatrick and was brewed by Three Skulls Ales in September. Mike was also on hand at the brewery as his beer was being brewed.

As part of the development of Coop beer, competitions will be an integral part of beer offerings at Flying Bike. Along with our ‘house beers’, members will be invited to compete to have their beer placed on tap at the Coop once it is operational”

Fly-PA will be on tap at Pillagers Pub and several other TBD locations in the Seattle area.

The Board of Flying Bike was also happy to announce the election of their newest Board member: Michael Dieterle. The announcement was made at the FBCB annual meeting on Saturday, October 22 where members were treated to Fly-PA. Two other incumbent Board members were re-elected, Jake Walters and Tim Dery.

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About Flying Bike: Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery is a member-owned cooperative that is working towards opening a brewery in the Seattle area, featuring member beer recipes and input from members on various aspects of the business. The co-op started selling memberships in May of 2011 and currently has over 435 Founding Members.