Backlash Beer, Night Shift collaborate on ONCEMADE beer project

Backlash Beer and Night Shift Brewing, two rising stars in the Boston brewing scene, are collaborating on a limited-edition beer project.

The ONCEMADE project, which as you can imagine is beer that will only be made one time, will result in two sour imperial saisons crafted by the two breweries. The Backlash beer -- a pale saison with a pilsner and wheat malt base -- will be hopped with Nugget and Willamette hops. Night Shift's red saison will have a complex malt bill that includes caramel, wheat, rye, and acid malts and will feature Saaz and Willamette hops. The beers will be aged with Massachusetts raspberries and Brett yeast in local Red Wine Barrels and California Brandy Barrels.

"The barrels themselves are really expensive and we normally wouldn't be able to take on that cost outside of a project like this," said Backlash brewer Helder Pimentel. "There will be a considerable amount of evolution in the beer that occurs over time."

The beers will come packaged together in hand-numbered pinewood boxes. Each package will also include two hand-made wooden coasters, a piece of one of the barrels, and a hand-signed letter from the brewers. You can pre-order the beers, which will sell for $45, on the ONCEMADE website.

This is the first in what will be a series of collaborations (through Pintley) between two local breweries. Pimentel said the idea "really appealed" to him.

"This project really opened some doors to doing things that we normally can't," said Pimentel. "Brewing on a smaller scale allowed us to get more creative than we would normally by using Brettanomyces and barrel-aging the beer."