Everett, MA — On February 2, 2016, Night Shift Brewing celebrated the four-year anniversary of their first commercially brewed batch of beer. Their anniversary present to themselves? Two 45 bbl oak foeders that will be used to significantly enhance Night Shift’s sour and wild beer program.

Generally used for aging wine, these large wooden barrels (called foeders, also spelled foudres) are commonly reused by craft breweries to age and develop various styles of beer. With their two new foeders, Night Shift will be able to condition an additional 2800 gallons of sour/wild beer at any given time. This supplements the brewery’s current collection of approximately 400 oak barrels, or 20,000 gallons of barrel-aging capacity.

The Everett brewery obtained their foeders from a family-owned Napa Valley winery that recently emptied them of red wine. Night Shift will fill both foeders in February with mixed fermentation sour ales, and expects to see the first available batch later this year. “Our plan is to use the solera process, which is actually a winemaking tradition,” commented NSB co-founder Rob Burns. “Each time we transfer beer out of the foeder, we leave some behind to blend with incoming ‘new’ beer. This allows for an ever-evolving but consistently familiar beer personality.”

Night Shift plans to purchase additional foeders based on availability in the market as the year continues. “We’ve been committed to putting out unique sour and wild beers since our 2012 beginnings,” said Burns. “These foeders will give us the chance to further develop that commitment.”

About Night Shift Brewing

Night Shift Brewing was founded in 2012 by a trio of friends with a shared passion for nocturnal homebrewing. We believe in creating and sharing an energetic, inspired, world-class culture. This belief influences everything from our beer recipes, to our staff hirings, to our Taproom culture, to the way we run our production floor. We create and we share what we do, and we do it with energy, with inspiration, and with world-class standards always in mind.