Lost in the Fractions
A series of collaborations born from Wavy Days Fest
For years, we’ve kept tabs on the crew from Foam Brewers up in Burlington, Vermont. The beers we’d tasted were delicious, and folks from across the industry had told us we needed to meet them any chance we had. When it came time to send out invites to our first Wavy Days Beer Fest, we knew they’d have to be on the list. It was an honor to have them accept our invitation and join the festivities. Over the course of the weekend, we immediately found a connection and a friendship began to bud.
Dan O’Hara and Steve Gourley rep Foam at Wavy Days 2022
Fast forward to Winter 2022, and we were getting a little stir crazy, starting to look for ways to work with friends in the industry without waiting until summer. Naturally, we floated a message the way of the Foam crew to see if we could collaborate on some new recipes and ideas to get to know each other’s processes a little more. Given that we’d never shared the brew deck before, we all agreed it was a great opportunity to trade ideas and inspiration while continuing to build our intercompany relationship.
The production team at Foam was kind enough to host us in Vermont for the first stop of the tour. In early February we visited their production facility in Hinesburg to tour the space, get to know more members of their team, and brew a beer together
The beer we brewed that day maximized the creativity of both production crews - a rice lager, with bergamot zest and honey harvested from Foam’s own apiary. We decided on the name Lost it in the Lights; a music reference that speaks to our teams’ shared interests as well as Foam’s long documented support for arts outside of brewing. After an evening of beers, conversation, and delicious food at Foam’s Deep City restaurant, we spent the next day in Burlington brewing on their pilot facility. Your Favorite Station, a luscious New England double IPA was the result. With that we’d kicked off a full spectrum of collab beers in just 24 hours.
When it came our turn to host, we turned the creativity up once again on the recipe side. Our conversations with Dan, Steve, and the rest of the production team at Foam had revealed that they share our affinity for local malt. While we frequently showcase products from Maine Malt House; they have such exceptional maltsters in their neighborhood as Nitty Gritty Grain Company and Vermont Malthouse. Mast Landing Production Manager Weston Shepherd had the idea to create a dual showcase - an IPA that featured the best both of states have to offer on the grain side of things. Flaked wheat from Vermont meets unmalted red wheat from Maine in the grist of Fraction of the Sum, the first Maine brewed collaboration between the two breweries, and of course another musical reference. To round out the recipe, we looked to the Southwest, where some of the only truly American hops have lived for thousands of years, but were only discovered growing naturally recently. These hops have been developed by growers to create experimental varietals that showcase a terroir unlike the majority of the hops we see in modern craft brewing; many of which have agricultural origins outside of the United States. Zappa is the name of the varietal that we showcase in Fraction of the Sum, and the zesty, juicy notes of passionfruit, candied mango, and more are a welcome addition to the recipe.
With the release of Fraction of the Sum, we also had the opportunity to showcase Foam’s beers at our taproom in Westbrook. The ability to pour 6 of their beers here in Maine, while hosting their crew is an honor, and further reinforces the exciting future we have collaborating together. The whole Mast Landing crew feels lucky to share these beers with you, and to share space with our friends at Foam. We hope you enjoy what you taste!
