Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “Self-Reliance” inspires and compels our persistent reflection, examination, and refinement. From our ongoing pursuit of unique and personally selected hops to our steady quest after refinement and the individualized expression of elegance in all of our beers, Emerson’s urging to “insist on yourself; never imitate” provides motivation towards greater self-exploration, self-expression, and self-realization.

To that end, we present you a reimagining of our Self-Reliance series—once our exploratory pale ales, now our Farmstead® single hop India pale ales featuring varieties of our own selection. This new series allows us to showcase each hop’s characteristics within the framework of our delicately tart, lightly effervescent base beer.

This release was brewed and dry-hopped exclusively with hand-selected 2019 Riwaka hops from New Zealand’s Freestyle Farm. Riwaka remains one of the most uniquely expressive varietals that we have encountered along our brewing journey, and we are fortunate to have met and partnered with Freestyle Hops shortly after their inception. Each of our Farmstead® Ales celebrates the dwindling tradition and process of bottle conditioning. Although this beer will age gracefully for years, we encourage you to consume this within six months for best hop expression. We hope that, by now, many of you may have been inspired to read the writings that inspire some of our beer names. In this case, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “Self-Reliance” is quietly pleading (along with our encouragement) for a few hours of your quiet introspection.