MC Lager
Tonewood Brewing - Barrington

For this collaboration, Tonewood's Taylor Facchinei and Eli Facchinei and Monk's proprietor Tom Peters shared a goal of creating a quaffable lager with a slightly smoky flavor, achieved by adding a percentage of malt smoked with wood from a lightning-struck mulberry tree on the Rabbit Hill Malthouse property. "The smoked malt gives this beer a distinct mesquite bbq flavor, but finishes crisp and refreshing," notes Taylor. Eli suggested foeder-aging after primary fermentation in stainless steel, lending a soft vanilla flavor to MC Lager.

"I've been enjoying Tonewood's lagers like Pool Boy and Lumber Yard, so they were a natural choice for this collaboration," says Tom Peters. "We hopped it a little more aggressively than they have hopped their lagers or pilsners (9 lbs vs. 11 lbs for MC Lager.) I had our own crew participate: we tasted a few Tonewood beers and found out how much hops they usually add to the boil for each. MC Lager has a fair amount of Saaz and Hallertau hops in it, but all low alpha acid, so you are going to get a lot of wonderful aroma and dryness but very little bitterness."