Green Flash Brewing Cellar 3 Goes Live May 16th

(San Diego, CA) – Last month, Green Flash Brewing Co. co-founders, Mike and Lisa Hinkley announced plans for the national debut of Cellar 3 — a series of rare, barrel-aged Green Flash beer releases and their expansion to a 2^nd San Diego packaging facility. The Green Flash team is now pleased to announce the May 16^th grand opening of Cellar 3 – the tasting room, revealing details about the location and more information about the rare beers slated to be nationally released from the facility in 2015.  Located in an industrial section of Poway (at 12260 Crosthwaite Circle), Cellar 3 is 12,000 square feet of space dedicated to the art of craft beer innovation through barrel-aging and wild yeast experimentation. Over 2,500 of this space is reserved for the customer experience in the tasting room and intimate beer garden. The focus on craft beer artistry extends into the design and programming plans for the Poway tap room, creating an inviting destination where consumers are encouraged to unwind and sample draft selections of the rare Cellar 3 beers produced at the location.

“While our Mira Mesa facility will remain the national hub for all things Green Flash, we are very pleased with our decision to open the new Cellar 3 facility in Poway,” explains Green Flash Co-Founder and CEO, Mike Hinkley. “We secured a perfect space to allow our brewers to refine award-winning recipes as well as to innovate through experimentation with funky yeast strains, barrel aging and blending. In the tasting room, our team will be focused on educating the consumer about our process while sharing and sampling the innovative beers from Cellar 3.”

With a nod to industrial artist lofts, the sophisticated design of Cellar 3’s tasting room allows brewers and artists to unite, and is where beer connoisseurs are invited to enjoy the masterful creations created at the facility. The focal point of Cellar 3 is a deco-inspired metal starburst façade behind the bar, which is situated against a bustling backdrop of towering barrels-at-rest, foudres and steel production equipment. Visitors in the tasting room are able to observe Barrelmaster, Pat Korn and his team at work as they craft the latest Cellar 3 innovation. Further reflecting the artful theme of the series and Green Flash’s ongoing commitment to the enlightened craft beer experience, the tasting room will feature thoughtfully curated artwork slated to rotate quarterly. The artfully designed bottles will also be incorporated into the décor to create an evolving art installation that will grow as new bottles are added to the display with each limited release.

With enough space to hold 155 guests, the Cellar 3 tasting room will be open from Wednesday through Sunday (closed Monday &Tuesday) from 12 – 8pm beginning Saturday, May 16^th. Visitors will have the ability to purchase a selection of Green Flash beer and limited release Cellar 3-specific beer-to-go in the series’ signature 750 ML cork-finished bottles and growlers. The tasting room features up to 30 beers on tap, including a rotation of Cellar 3 and Green Flash offerings as well as experimental brews that will poured exclusively at Cellar 3. Guests can also book educational tours of the facility, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the craft of barrel aging, blending and wild yeast fermentation.

Inspired by the success of the recently debuted Green Flash Gastro food truck, stationed at the Green Flash tasting room in Mira Mesa, Green Flash will park their 2^nd food truck at Cellar 3, and will continue to offer small bites to pair with the lineup of Cellar 3 beers on tap. Sample menu items include Italian-style sandwiches, homemade craft jerky & potato chips, and house cured charcuterie & cheese platters.

While the tasting room gears up for a May opening, the brewery team has already been busy working to release five exciting Cellar 3 beers nationally in 2015. The first limited batch of Silva Stout is hitting store shelves in April, with a second slated to release in the fall. Each debut will be available nationally in limited quantities. Barrelmaster, Pat Korn is leading operations at Cellar 3, working closely with Green Flash Brewmaster, Chuck Silva to ensure all Cellar releases are consistently innovative and exceptional.

“When we began the barrel program at Green Flash, it served as a creative outlet – almost a side project for the brewing team. Now, we have over 800 barrels and a series where the beers are nationally available. What I enjoy most is the challenge that every time we fill a barrel, we do not know exactly what to expect as the result,” explains Barrel Master Pat Korn. “I want to take a craft that is inherently random and apply what we know to make a consistently great product that tastes the same whether you are in the tasting room or across the country. To achieve that we blend art, science and manual labor with just a dash of luck.”

The Cellar 3 lineup in 2015 will include the following outstanding rare ale releases:

Silva Stout (2 releases in 2015)

Green Flash Double Stout ages in oak bourbon barrels, and artfully emerges as Silva Stout. This midnight black ale features elegant notes of oak, vanilla, dark chocolate, coffee, roasted barley and ripe cherry. Round and delicately balanced in body, each sip envelops the palate with its impressively complex craft composition.

Flanders Drive

Originally released in 2013 during beer week, this highly coveted rare ale was the first sour produced by Green Flash.  Flanders Drive is the result of intense Brewmaster contemplation. Built on a canvas of structured malts, the sourness develops during extended aging in wood barrels lending to the beer’s depth and complexity. Heady top notes of tart cherry and dark fruit mingle with rich, subtle malt in the background for a truly satisfying sour ale.

Plum, Natura Morta Series

The first release from Cellar 3’s Natura Morta Series of fruit fermented beers, this extraordinary ale begins as a Belgian-style Saison fermented in foudres with Brettanomyces. It is then aged in red wine barrels with Italian plum puree. After six months, a pink hued ale emerges. Elegant and flavorful, it renders notes of tart plum, rosewater and almond, balanced by barrel-drawn tannins and a refined dry finish.

Le Freak Barrique

Our Belgian-Style Trippel and American Imperial IPA hybrid ale is inoculated with Brettanomyces to create Le Freak Barrique. Highly nuanced, the resinous hop characteristics are refined by barrel-drawn notes of vanilla and French oak tannins. Wild yeast imparts a barnyard funk with hints of apple orchard that linger in the finish.

Cherry, Natura Morta Series

The second release from the Natura Morta Series is a refined evolution of our Belgian-Style Saison is foudre-fermented with Brettanomyces, then aged in red wine barrels with dark sweet cherry puree. After six months, an effervescent crimson ale is released with flavors of ripe stone fruit and barrel-drawn tannins. Retaining hints of earthy wild yeast, Natura Morta Cherry finishes like a fine Beaujolais.

About Green Flash Brewing Co. 

Green Flash Brewing Co. is located in San Diego, California, and was established in 2002 by co-founders Mike and Lisa Hinkley.  Brewmaster, Chuck Silva, leads brewing operations. Green Flash is an award-winning brewer of fine, craft ales, and specializes in brewing assertive and distinctive beers, such as nationally acclaimed West Coast I.P.A.: an award-winning beer whose wide acceptance has helped define a category.  Green Flash is available in bottles and on draft nationally – offerings include a growing lineup of seasonal and limited release ales, including several barrel-aged beers from their new facility, Cellar 3.  Please visit the Green Flash website www.greenflashbrew.com for more information.