Maine Beer Company/Lawson’s Finest Liquids Collaboration Time 1

Where In Town: ChurchKey, 1337 14th St. NW

Price: $5.00/4 ounces

Takes Brew to Tango

Collaboration beers are like Simon & Garfunkel, Sonny & Cher, the Blues Brothers—partnerships that range from masterly to ill-fated to ridiculous. (To say nothing of supergroup mash-ups from three or more breweries.) Luckily, Collaboration Time 1 is more Eric B. & Rakim than Kid ‘N Play. It was devised by two beloved New England breweries: Portland-based Maine Beer Company and Lawson’s Finest Liquids, a one-man operation whose bottles are only available at three stores and one farmers market in Vermont. Brewed with barley from Maine, hops from Vermont, wheat from New York, and rye from Massachusetts, it’s an ode to the Northeast and a bold, flavorful beer to boot. If Outkast had hailed from New England and brewed beer, it might have come up with this.

The Green and the Black

This dark, hoppy beer smells like the Pine Tree and Green Mountain states it hails from, with resinous hops complementing roasted barley, molasses, espresso, and even melon. The taste is all barley and coffee, with a Champagne-like effervescence. If this Bigfoot of a beer proves hard to track down, fear not: Other delicious Maine Beer Company bottles, such as Zoe and Peeper, are surely floating around the District, as are local collaborations from the likes of Bluejacket and DC Brau.

Photo by Daniel Fromson