Falls City, 3rd Turn to release 'Beers with Beshear' 5 O'Clock IPA

Are you one of the devotees that tunes in every day at 5 p.m. to listen to Gov. Andy Beshear’s update on coronavirus? If so, you probably know it’s become a sort of happy hour event with so many Kentuckians in lockdown, even being tabbed as “Beers with Beshear.”

Well, two local breweries have collaborated to create a beer just for the daily virtual get-together, sort of an unofficial Beers with Beshear go-to.

Falls City Brewing Co. and 3rd Turn Brewing teamed up for 5 O’Clock IPA, a dank West Coast IPA brewed with Calypso, Mosaic and Amarillo hops. The nicely balanced beer, which checks in at 6.7% alcohol by volume, is crisp and drinkable with just enough dankness and a hearty hop bite on the finish.

5 O’Clock IPA will be available at both breweries starting this Friday, May 8.

The limited-production beer will be sold in 16-ounce bottles bearing a green label – no doubt a nod to the governor’s request that we light homes and businesses green in honor of those who have died of COVID-19 – that is illustrated with three hands.

The hands, appropriately, are signaling three letters in American Sign Language: I, P and A. This, of course, is a reference to Beshear’s practice of always having a sign language interpreter, usually Virginia Moore, who has become a minor Kentucky celebrity thanks to her role in the daily broadcasts.

Interestingly, Falls City brewer Cameron Finnis noted that the collaboration brew was actually created through a “social distance” brewing session. The beer was brewed at Falls City’s facility, but “we collaborated with 3rd Turn on the recipe, name and every step along the way.”

Five o’clock is about to get better. (Photos by Kevin Gibson)

The beer ended up fulfilling a collaboration that already had been in the discussion stage between the two breweries.

“We had been talking to Drew [Johnson, Falls City’s GM] and Cam for a long time about coming together on a collab and busy brewery life never let that come together,” 3rd Turn co-owner Ben Shinkle told Hello Louisville. “Then COVID-19 hit and it took an already close community in the brewing world and polarized it.”

“When the quarantine went into effect,” Finnis said, “we worked up an IPA that’s perfect for our new 5:00 ritual.”

Shinkle likens Beshear’s daily talks as, “the new Fireside Chats of yesteryear,” referencing the series of radio broadcasts by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, beginning in 1933. The broadcasts gripped Americans much in the same way Beshear’s broadcasts have captivated thousands of Kentuckians during the coronavirus crisis.

“We couldn't think of a better way to support our local brewing community and our loyal customers than a collaboration that is named for a time when people are looking for comfort,” Shinkle said.

5 O’Clock IPA will be sold in single bottles ($4), crowlers ($8) and growlers ($14), while it lasts.