Southern California punk legends Pennywise have partnered with award-winning Lost Coast Brewery to produce Pennywiser beer. Pennywiser is a Session IPA. The beer will be available as a limited release in select Southern California stores, bars and restaurants in early September. Further distribution is planned for later months.

Lost Coast Brewery owner Barbara Groom says, “This is exciting for Lost Coast Brewery–our first major collaboration. We are looking forward to this new release and hope that Pennywise fans and all beer drinkers alike will enjoy.”

On Friday, I attended a private launch event for Pennywiser at The Standing Room in the band’s hometown of Hermosa Beach, CA. Hence, the event provided me with the opportunity to try Pennywiser beer and meet the band’s members –

Jim Lindberg – Vocals

Fletcher Dragge – Guitars

Randy Bradbury – Bass

Byron McMackin – Drums

Pennywise band members (left to right) – Randy Bradbury, Fletcher Dragge, Jim Lindberg, and Byron McMackin

Photo by Josh Coffman

Pennywiser Session IPA

Dry hopped with Cascade, Crystal, Chinook and Citra hops, Pennywiser bursts with a citrus aroma while delivering a crisp, dry, and refreshing hoppy taste consisting of citrus and pine. The bitter finish balances well with an underlying malt cracker base. The flavor definitely captures the character and intensity of the Pennywise band. Because this Session IPA contains a mild alcohol content (4.8%), you can enjoy a few beers throughout a Pennywise concert. I really enjoyed Pennywiser and would definitely drink it again (and again).

Pennywiser bursts with a citrus aroma while delivering a crisp, dry, and refreshing hoppy taste

The pairing of rock bands and beer is a major marketing and branding trend that has included bands such as AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Anthrax, Motorhead, and Megadeth – to name just a few. Seems like the strategy works. Hence, I expect Pennywiser to be the popular choice at Pennywise concerts and with their fan base.

Pennywise branded their beer as “The Bro-Hymn of Beers” after their hit punk rock anthem “Bro-Hymn”

In addition, I sat down with Pennywise bass guitarist Randy Bradbury to learn more about their new beer.

 Pennywise bass guitarist Randy Bradbury autographs a bottle of Pennywiser for me

My Conversation with Randy Bradbury

 

Q. Are any of the band members home brewers?

A. No. I considered it about 4 or 5 years ago. It sounds like so much fun and another way of being creative. I bought a book and cracked it open, but it talked about all the cleaning and other steps. So I kept thinking about the nightmare of cleaning all the bottles. The amount of work made the idea not fun for me so I didn’t move forward. I wish I had.

Q. What was the collaboration process with Lost Coast Brewing like?

A. It was really easy. They came with some really good ideas. The ideas ranged from lightest to strongest. Our whole concept was to make a beer that you can go to the bar and pound them like most everyone does when you go out and party. So we gave Lost Coast our feedback on each of their beer ideas and what we were expecting. Then Barbara [Barbara Groom, Lost Coast Brewery owner] brewed something up and came back with some more suggestions also. We picked from 2 or 3 more options as they narrowed down to the final product. They were really intuitive and understood what we were all about. And in the end, they just nailed it!

Q. What’s your favorite aspect of Pennywiser beer?

A. Well, I gotta to say that I haven’t been drinking for about 2 months now. But I like they way they were able to keep the richness and flavor style of an IPA. The beer has a nice hoppy bitterness but it’s not syrupy or thick like some higher alcohol IPAs. With an alcohol percentage of 4.8%, the beer is light with a dry, crisp snap to it. I don’t even know how they did all that – having a hop intensity with a crisp lager-like feel.

Q. Do you have an unusual or personal story that goes with the creation of Pennywiser?

A. Pretty much everything with the band is unusual so it makes my story almost normal. As far back as 20 years ago or maybe more, everyone in the band had a running theme or joke about “Pennywiser”. And now, so many years later, that idea has come to fruition. For a while, we also considered “Pennywisen” – that would be a beer in the style of a hefeweizen. But in the end we decided, let’s just go with our original idea of Pennywiser and work around that.

Q. What band would you most like to jam with (existing or defunct) while sharing a Pennywiser?

A. Well, I kind of cut my teeth on Black Sabbath. I have to go with Black Sabbath or Black Flag but there are others.

Q. What food pairs best with Pennywiser?

A. Burgers, BBQ, and bar food.

 

Final Thoughts

I recommend Pennywiser Session IPA. Without doubt, this is a beer I could drink often. Like the Pennywise band, Pennywiser delivers a unique punch with intensity and style.

A huge thank you to the Pennywise band and Randy Bradbury for spending some time with me. I had a blast! Thanks also to Ashton-Magnuson Media and Kristine Ashton-Magnuson for providing me access to this event and arranging the interview.

 

Unless noted otherwise in the caption, all photos were taken by my wonderful wife – Pinup Pat.