Everett’s Crucible Brewing finally came up with a name for its flagship IPA.
Now it’s seeking your help to name the rest of its beers.
Crucible Brewing will host its Wootz IPA Naming Party at 5 p.m. March 12 at the brewery, 909 SE Everett Mall Way, Everett. During the celebration, customers will have the chance to submit names for Crucible’s other beers, including its brown, India session ale, stout, Belgian dubbel, kettle raspberry sour, saison, amber and pale ale. Customers can only submit names in person Saturday, although mug club members can submit via email.
“We’re not great at coming up with names. I make beer,” said Crucible head brewer Dick Mergens.
“Customers are always pitching us names,” said co-owner Shawn Dowling.
Coming up with Wootz wasn’t easy. Mergens and Dowling came up with the name after discovering the history of Wootz Steel, a crucible steel often used to make swords. The fact it originated in India made it the perfect name for the brewery’s IPA.
One problem: Stone Brewing, one of the most iconic craft brewery’s in America, already makes a W00t Stout, and in the name-protective world of craft beer, that can be too close for comfort.
So Mergens reached out to Stone brewmaster Mitch Steele on Facebook and asked if they could use the name Wootz for its IPA. Not only was Steele OK with it, but he offered up one of its beers for Saturday’s celebration. Crucible will be pouring Stone’s 12th Anniversary beer, a bitter chocolate oatmeal stout, on Saturday.
Now that their IPA has a name, Mergens and Dowling said that they’re also taking suggestions for names for their Double IPA, which is currently being called Millenium Falconer because it’s made with Falconer’s Flight hops. But, because Disney would obviously have an issue if Crucible started distributing the beer outside of the taproom, Mergens and Dowling are looking to eventually rename it.
Since opening in November, Crucible has found success in its spot along Everett Mall Way. And now they’re growing. Crucible took over the part of the building next to its taproom and brewery, more than doubling its space to 3,400 square feet. Mergens and Dowling plan to use the extra room for overflow on busy nights, an event space, an administrative office and extra room to house grain, which was previously kept at Homebrew Heaven, and barrels. Mergens said he also wants to start a yeast lab.
Mergens and Dowling hope to release Crucible’s first barrel-aged beer, a Russian Imperial Stout that has been aging six months in J.P. Trodden bourbon barrels, at its St. Patrick’s Day celebration on March 17.
“We do have a name for that: Putin Out Stout,” Dowling said.
Wootz IPA Naming Party
5 p.m. March 12 at Crucible Brewing
There will be beer, including a special beer from Stone Brewing, and live music from Aby Grace.
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