A few years ago, as we were first sitting down and putting a pen to paper to plan out MCBC,we began settling on recipes and names we felt represented the beers we were tinkering with in the garage. The name “Hopscotch” at the time seemed to sit best as our IPA. Our intention was a beer that was playful, flavorful, and presented IPA level hoppiness in a different way than most expect.
While we settled on recipes for the rest of our lineup quickly, this one eluded us. We played with hop varieties, hop combos, yeast strains, malt selection, all trying to find that perfect combination of ingredients. Harkening back to Chris and Michael’s days as music teachers, this was a brewing-world version of “taking it to the woodshed;” practicing something over and over again until it’s flawless.
Textbook definition: “Woodshed: To lock oneself away with a musical instrument and practice, either a particular piece or in general, until the player has improved greatly or can perfectly play the piece he has been practicing.”
Use: “Due to the many hours he spent woodshedding, Jon became a better guitarist.”
All this to say, when it came time to begin releasing beers we discovered a problem with the name Hopscotch. Unfortunately for us, the name had been trademarked between the time we planned the business and began operations. Trademark issues have become quite the rage in craft brewing as of late so rather than get caught up in a legal tornado, we opted to change the name of the of beer.
As with the recipe design, the naming process took some time to settle. We gathered ideas, voted on names, but ultimately one name jumped out as the best choice; Woodshed IPA. The name to us embodies so much. It represents the hours spent “in the woodshed,” hashing out the perfect recipe for our IPA. It draws inspiration from our surroundings; a growing farm town, littered with old, time- worn wooden structures that are a reminder of what Nolensville once was.
So there you have it! The juicy details behind the name change for a beer we haven’t even released yet. Whatever this new name stirs inside you, we hope you invariably find it a beacon of quality. A level of perfection that can only be achieved by countless hours “in the Woodshed.”
