Sweetwater Brewing has once again partnered with The Giving Kitchen to serve up Second Helping IPA, with all profits from Sweetwater and United Distributors donated to the Atlanta non-profit.
Originally brewed by chef Ryan Hidinger and the team at Sweetwater, Second Helping’s first go ‘round in early 2014 raised nearly $40,000 to directly support grants The Giving Kitchen offers to assist restaurant industry workers with emergencies.
This from the Sweetwater press release:
Set for a short-run starting in mid-January, 22-oz bombers of the juniper IPA can be found throughout metro Atlanta at participating accounts in addition to draft tap handles at select bars and restaurants. Second Helping is brewed with 2-row, Victory, Wheat, C30 and chocolate malts; and features five varieties of hops including Bravo, Centennial, Chinook, Simcoe and Amarillo. Juniper berries were added in the whirlpool and then steeped in the dry hop phase to pull piney, dry berry characteristics on the palate. This heaping helping serves up 7.4% ABV and 69 IBUs. Sweetwater’s Atlanta area distributor, United Distributors, has once again joined the brewery in pledging to donate all profits directly back to The Giving Kitchen, and look for local retailers upping the ante as well by creating benefit events featuring Second Helping.
Today marks the one year anniversary of Ryan's death. Here's the column I wrote a year ago:
On Jan. 9, my friend Ryan Hidinger lost his battle with cancer. He was 36, a great chef and very cool guy who used his final year to inspire and bless others.
Through The Giving Kitchen non-profit and Staplehouse restaurant, Hidinger will live on in a legacy of help and hope for those in Atlanta’s restaurant community facing the kinds of hardships he faced. If you don’t know The Giving Kitchen story, you can find out more at thegivingkitchen.org .
I first met Ryan when he was chef de cuisine at Muss & Turner’s in Smyrna and we became casual friends over our mutual love of great beer. I got to know Ryan and his wife Jen better when I covered a Staplehouse dinner for an Atlanta Journal-Constitution story about so-called “underground” supper clubs.
After that, Ryan and Jen became regular guests at an annual beer geek bacchanal on my front porch. And in November they were there again, hanging out in the kitchen, sipping a bit of Gulden Draak and laughing with friends as sun streamed through the windows.
On the day of Ryan’s passing, that wonderful memory felt like a gift. And that afternoon, I decided I needed to drive to Sweetwater, where I knew another of the Hidinger’s gifts, Second Helping India Pale, was in the brewery’s bright tanks, waiting to be bottled.
The ritual of sampling beer siphoned, cold and bubbly, straight from the tank is always a treat. Drinking a pint of Second Helping that day was a comfort and a joy.
Ryan and Jen created the recipe for the juniper double IPA with Sweetwater head brewer Nick Nock to help raise awareness and money for The Giving Kitchen.
Nock told me that he loved the idea of a chef and a brewer collaborating, especially for such a good cause, and that their goal was to make a beer that would be enhanced with food.
“Ryan definitely wanted to do a double IPA,” Nock said. “That was one of his favorite styles. We decided to put a little tweak on it with the chef and brewer thing and juniper berries came up. It was something we’d never played with before, but it worked really well.”
Ultimately, Second Helping was brewed with a variety of specialty malts, including Victory and chocolate, and five varieties of hops, including Bravo, Centennial, Chinook, Simcoe and Amarillo. The juniper berries were added in the whirlpool and again when the beer was dry-hoppped.
The result is a delicious IPA with a distinct botanical presence. The juniper berries seem to enhance the hops with herbal, minty aromas and flavors and there’s a gin-like character in the dry finish. The Victory and chocolate malts add nutty and biscuity notes, and a pretty amber color. Beer geeks will note that Second Helping registers at 7.4% ABV and 69 IBUs.
“I think this is a great beer that will pair well with food,” Nock said. “I hope chefs and restaurants around Atlanta will get their hands on it and do something crazy with it.”
As I said last year, I hope you go out and buy some Second Helping at your favorite beverage store or beer bar, share it with friends, and offer a toast to Ryan.
Today, at 3:30 p.m. at Eleanor's bar, Muss & Turner's in Smyrna is honoring the one year anniversary of Hidinger's passing with a benefit tasting hosting supporters of The Giving Kitchen and Sweetwater with 2015 Second Helping IPA available on draft for the first time. In addition, there will be a cask with extra juniper berries added. Try the beers one after the other or side by side.
Second Helping IPA officially hits the Atlanta market on Monday.
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