Poetica #1 began following a visit to Pilsen, Czechia, in 2017. After tasting a Pilsner fermented and conditioned in wooden barrels beneath the streets of Pilsen, we returned home and began our own exploration of conditioning lager in oak, reimagining how some of our existing lagers might benefit from the graceful refinement only wood can provide.

Named for Edward’s mother, Mary is brewed with German Pilsner malt, German hops, lager yeast, and water from our well; her namesake beer provided a foundation from which to begin our journey of Old World lagers.

For Poetica’s first expression, we rested a portion of Mary in a single French oak puncheon in our cooler for nearly two months. We then returned it to tank and krausened it with fresh, fermenting lager to provide soft, natural carbonation. 

The resulting beer retained its relationship to Mary, softened through its time in wood and subsequent conditioning. This established a direction we have continued to pursue through Poetica and our other wood-conditioned lagers—Memoria, Autumna, and Rhetorica.

A visit to the place where Pilsner originated prompted us to reenvision a beer we already knew well. With Poetica #1’s return to our taproom, we revisit that first exploration and the work that has followed.