Welcome to Liquid Lowdown, a column that explores the strange, beautiful world of local drinks made right here in metro Phoenix (or just beyond). Snap open a can or thrum the cork from a bottleneck. Cheers. Let's get weird.
Liquid: Beer
Name: CoRn — American Adjunct Lager
Style: Flaked corn lager
ABV: 4.6%
Brewery: Goldwater Brewing Co.
Address: 3608 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale and 5942 East Longbow Parkway, #105, Mesa
Hours: 3 to 10 p.m. Monday to Thursday, noon to 10 p.m. Friday to Saturday, noon to 8 p.m. Sunday (Scottsdale); 1 to 10 p.m. Monday to Thursday, noon to 10 p.m. Friday to Saturday, noon to 9 p.m. Sunday (Mesa)
Lowdown: Normally I would never corn in (I’m sorry) on Chris Malloy's turf. He knows beer and does good work covering it for us here at New Times.
But a new limited-edition brew from Goldwater Brewing Co. demanded my attention. The logo could not be ignored. The font, the backwards R: It was truly calling all freaks.
CoRn — American Adjunct Lager was released on Friday, August 14, just two weeks shy of the year mark since Korn was last on stage in the Valley (August 31, 2019 at Ak-Chin Pavilion with Alice in Chains, in case you were wondering. And yes, I was there).
It is a flaked corn lager hopped with Huell Melon, Saaz, and Amarillo (these are hop varieties). The Goldwater folks describe the beer as a “clean light malt with honeydew hoppiness.”
Okay, so who's the Korn fan at Goldwater Brewing Co.?
“I think every '90s kid is or was a fan at some point,” says Dillon J. McClelland, co-owner and creative director at the brewery. “KoRn or die.”
Fair enough. The “kornitopia” font is available for free online, McClelland said, and their designer added a Parental Advisory-style stamp to the label to give it that extra "hide this can from your parents after a trip to the mall" feel. Look closer and you'll see the best part: a pattern of text reading “da boom na da noom na namena” in the background. I didn't even notice it until I'd finished my 16-ounce can.
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For a lager, CoRn is bitter, but it's an ideal summer brew just the same. The hops are indeed detectable, though not overpowering. It ain't heavy.
Cans are currently sold out at Goldwater's Scottsdale tap room but are still available in four-packs and single cans at the east Mesa tap room while supplies last. Both locations still have CoRn on draft and are open for on-site consumption. It’s also sold at select beer and bottle shops. We got our four-pack at the new Rift Wine + Tap in Scottsdale.
But you better hurry.
“This was a one-time brew, so it may not make its way back,” McClelland warns, “but crazier things have happened.”
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