A timely brew
Bosque re-releasing pandemic-inspired Pickle Down Economics
Pickle Down Economics packs a sour and salty punch, and plenty of New Mexicans are ready to take the hit.
The pickle gose sold out in about three hours at Bosque Brewing Co.’s Public House in Nob Hill, and quantities at the brewery’s other taprooms went just as quickly when it was released in May.
“We’ve never had a beer sell out that fast ever, which was exciting,” said Jess Griego, chief experience officer at Bosque Brewing Co. “And we’re coming up on our eight-year anniversary, so that was definitely exciting and kind of a call to action to brew it again. We had a high demand for it. We brewed it last year, a version of it. It was just a different recipe that was well received, and we get questions almost daily about when it’s coming back.”
Pickle Down Economics will be re-released on Thursday, July 2, and will be available on tap and in cans at all Bosque’s taprooms in Albuquerque, Bernalillo, and Las Cruces. Guests can sit and have a pint as well as pick up a fourpack to take home.
“John Bullard, our master brewer, and I thought especially during COVID we could put something in package,” Griego said. “That’s what people are looking for right now, is something to take home, something unique. We hadn’t released a specialty beer canned. I feel that it already has a cult classic following.”
Pickle lovers will immediately embrace the gose’s flavor profile.
“Pickle-Down Economics starts with a simple grain bill of malted barley and wheat,” Bullard said. “Then we sour it with lactobacillus before adding 100 gallons of pickle juice and a half-pound of dill. The result is a light, thirst-quenching craft beverage with a ton of pickle character.”
Fans of the pickle gose have come up with innovative ways to incorporate it into concoctions such as micheladas that are usually made with beer, lime juice, assorted sauces, spices, tomato juice and chile peppers. Pickle Down Economics has also been used in Bloody Marys.
“We are just kind of right now, over the last few months, thinking about how we can be more adventurous and creative and really trying to listen to what people are asking of us and not being too serious about ourselves,” Griego said. “… It’s just fun to be a place where we’re open to doing as many crazy fun things as we can and just try to keep people excited to come into our taproom and take beverages home. Just the ways consumers are engaging with beer and products in general are changing, so we’re trying to keep up with that and also stay fun and relevant. This has been a really good example of that for us.”
The pickle gose’s name is creative and relevant to the current time. Bosque send out a request to its staff to submit names for the beer. Many were submitted, and ultimately the executive team went with Pickle Down Economics.
“It just felt relevant at the time,” Griego said. “It was probably mid-April that we started talking about making this beer. I think it was a fun way to poke at the situation we are all in. Even the fact that it’s a sour beer and we all kind of had a sour taste in our mouth. You know, how all of our industry, everyone has been affected, so I think it was on the nose but not too political, just kind of a fun way of addressing a time and remembering a few years from now the situation we are in when we decided to release this beer in package.”