Jan 28 2020

Beer stays fresher longer if it’s kept cold. This is true for almost every style of beer, but it’s especially true for hoppy beers.

We do everything possible at Garage Project to ensure that beers leave our brewery in tip top condition, going to great lengths to make sure it’s brewed and packaged in a way that gives the beer the best chance of staying fresh.

But the single most important factor in maintaining beer quality after it leaves the brewery is refrigeration. Leaving beer sitting warm, or even at room temperature, will accelerate the natural deterioration of the product.

One beer style which is particularly sensitive to temperature is hazy East Coast IPA.

These hoppy, hazy juice bombs are heavily dry hopped, unfiltered, unfined, and brewed and packaged without any kind of stabilisation. For the drinker to get this raw hoppy beer at its fresh best it has to stay refrigerated at all times.

Up until now this is why we have kept sales of our FRESH monthly offerings limited to our venues only, to guarantee that consumers get this beer in the condition we intended.

We love this style of beer, and we’d love to share it with more drinkers, but to do this we need to be sure it’s being presented by retailers and bars who will be able to look after it properly.

This is where Certified FRESH comes in.

Certified FRESH retailers are venues which we have identified as being able to do what is necessary to ensure that these beers reach the customer in peak condition.

How do you become a Certified FRESH retailer? It’s simple. You just need to be able to store our FRESH IPA cold at all times and to be willing to accept the three month best before date we put on these beers. If you fit these simple criteria then we’ll audit you and you’ll receive Certified FRESH accreditation.

How do you become a Certifed FRESH drinker? That’s also simple. We have created a handy store locator tool that will allow you to find the nearest Certified FRESH store.

The first Certified FRESH release - Volume 3 - is rolling out in custom ‘chilltainers’ designed to help protect the beer and keep it cold throughout transport. Each can features a temperature sensitive sticker. When the full Certified FRESH logo is visible you know the beer is cold and in good condition.

As you know, these soft, juicy hazy releases have been worked on over the last 18 months with rotating malt, hops and yeast so we can learn the best approaches to brewing this tasty style. The Certified FRESH Volume releases are tweaked versions of previous monthly drops - taking the best from that brew and working to elevate it.

The first Certified FRESH is Vol 3 - a take on the FRESH JAN from 2019. Alongside these drops to Certified FRESH partners, our ongoing monthly FRESH series will continue and only be available from GP cellar doors and web store.

We are only just getting started and have some big plans for Certified FRESH throughout 2020!

Certified FRESH, for FRESH hoppy beer at its best.

Jos