Two new beers for you this Saturday!

The first time I walked into The Hyppo in St. Augustine I was worried.

For the last several years my wife and I had been visiting St. Augustine regularly. One of the stops we always made was to Claude’s Chocolate at the corner of Hypolita St. and Charlotte St.

But this time as we walked up, we saw a different sign hanging from the building. One with a strange orange popsicle and hippo on it for a gourmet popsicle shop called The Hyppo.

I remember thinking “Oh no! Claude’s closed!”

When Tammy and I walked in we were met by Stephen the owner of The Hyppo. I asked, “Did Claude’s close down?”

He laughed and said “No way. They moved over near the Casa Monica hotel.”

“Oooh. Ok. Cool. So, what do you have here?”

He told us all about the Mexican Popsicles he hand-made called Paletas. He explained how they’re made with fresh fruit, milk or water and whatever else you want in them (basil, datil, chocolate, etc).

When I looked down into the case there were a dozen different varieties. Strawberry Datil, Elvis Presley (Banana, Chocolate, and Honey), Cantaloupe, Watermelon, Coconut, etc.

Being attracted to the strange stuff I ordered the Strawberry Datil. To this day, I still remember how good that thing was (and still is). Not too sweet. Slightly hot, but totally refreshing.

I think between Tammy and myself we ended up eating 5 or so different Paletas that weekend.

And ever since then, it’s been a “must-stop” for us when we visit St. Augustine along with the four breweries, of course. Stephen has grown The Hyppo to a crazy level. It’s been cool as hell to watch him grow that business to where it is today.

Now you’re probably asking, “What does this have to do with anything except you bragging about going to St. Augustine?”

Glad you asked. 

Because on Saturday, you get to try a new type of sour at RockPit. One we’re calling a “Paleta Sour”. More specifically, one of Saturday’s releases is a “Guava Paleta Sour”.

We tried to get as close as possible to melting down a Paleta, carbonating it and pouring it into your glass.

Our version is a bit more tart than a Paleta (it is, after all, a Berliner), but you’re going to get a sweet guava paleta flavor with just the right amount of tartness. And at just 4.1% abv, you can enjoy a few on a hot summer day (responsibly, of course). And by a hot summer day, I mean every day until Feb 12th, 2020. 

So until you can get to The Hyppo in St. Augustine, let us pour you one of these. I think you’ll agree that it’s a pretty damn good holdover. 

(On tap Saturday: Guava Paleta Sour)
 

If you ever find yourself in Pune, Maharashtra, India there’s a hugely popular treat called the Mango Mastani milkshake. It’s made with Mango, Sugar, Fresh Cream and Mango Ice Cream. You can top it with Pistachios and a cherry if you prefer.

If you don’t have any plans on visiting India anytime soon, allow me to introduce an alternative for you: Our Mango Mastani New England Milkshake IPA.

Quite the mouth full.

Clocking in at 6.7% abv and 80 IBU (believe me, doesn’t taste like 80 IBU), this is our interpretation of that sweet concoction found on the other side of the world.

You’re going to get creamy sweet mango on the tongue followed by a bit a hoppy bitterness on the backend.

Let me tell you something folks… I tasted this for the first time two nights ago after it was kegged. I had been sampling it in the fermenter but it wasn’t NEARLY as good as the finished product. I wish you could have seen my reaction. I just remember saying “Holy crap that’s good.”

Now it’s up to you to see how close we got this to a mango mastani milkshake.

(On tap Saturday: Mango Mastani New England Milkshake IPA)