Our June shipment of Michael Jackson’s Rare Beer Club was delayed in Customs for a month, but who cares. This specialty, brewed once, was a collaboration between Tomme Arthur of Port Brewing Company/The Lost Abbey and Dirk Naudts of De Proef. They brewed this in Febuary 2007 in Belgium during the Zythos Beer Festival. 

This is the second time Tomme Arthur has been featured in the Rare Beer Club this year, so we think MJ has taken a liking to this brewer, as he did with Alastair Hook of Meantime Brewing. (While you’re at it, check out Meantime’s list of “heroes” in the beer community.)

From the bottle (750ml, corked, 8.5% abv):

We designed the Signature Ale as a hybrid of American and Belgian brewing techniques. The stated end goal was a Signature Ale made with decidedly American hopping additions and finished with the traditional Belgian yeast flavor of Brettanomyces. … We used a generous amount of Amarillo, UK Phoenix and German Brewer’s Gold hops in the boil and for dry hopping during conditioning. …

Signature Ale is a pale golden colored ale capped with a prodigious rocky white foam. The hops come together in a blend of far east spices and new world citrus which are tempered by an underlying subtle tartness from the yeast. These notes would be out of balance were it no for a genersou maltiness that holds the beer in check without becoming too sweet. Deisgned with a resinous hop quality in mind, we believe this to be a new world example of old world exploration. We salute the brewers and their journey as we release this beer on its travels.