- Photo Courtesy of Dylan Nissen via Instagram
Just after releasing Alchemy Hour Double IPA in February of 2013, the folks at Great Lakes Brewing Company learned they'd have to change the beer’s name due to an unanticipated trademark hiccup.
Alchemy Hour's new name? Chillwave.
"[The trademark incident] kind of took the wind out of our sails, to stick with our water imagery," Marissa DeSanti of GLBC Marketing wrote in a recent blog post. "But we knew we couldn’t bail on our beer."
In hopes of finding a replacement name that captures the essence of the Great Lakes surfer experience, GLBC came up with a lengthy list of potential names, including—
10. Alchemy Half-Hour (Half the serving size, all the controversy!)
9. TM The Beer™ (You know, just to be safe.)
8. New Christmas Ale (Now with way more hops!)
7. Numb Nuggets (It gets pretty cold out there on the water.)
6. Hang Eleven (You don’t want to know. This one was an actual suggestion by Pat Conway.)
5. Al’s Chemistry Hour (If this didn’t sound like a Mr. Wizard rip-off, it could be one heck of a loophole.)
4. Asian Carp Hour (Could it be the next Burning River?)
3. Willy Walleye’s Wave Juice (Rejected for making all food pairings sound horrible.)
2. Great Lakes Ice (Extremely popular at frat parties.)
1. This symbol: Ѫ (Call your local distributor and ask for Ѫ!)
Our vote would have been for Ѫ, but apparently Chillwave is a more appropriate fit. Here's GLBC's rationale:
"The guys who surf the Great Lakes have to be a little crazy to brave cold water and hypothermic conditions, just to catch a few choppy swells. But they do it anyway. Early mornings, white knuckles, frost in their beards, short breath, whipping wind. It’s cold out there. But they stay chill. The waves make it all worthwhile."
"Chillwave Double IPA is for those surfers, and anyone brave enough to chase their passion. For us, that passion is beer. No matter how choppy it gets out there, we’re going to keep doing what we do best: brewing exceptional beer. We can’t wait for you to enjoy Chillwave Double IPA again. We hope it inspires you to find your own wave. And if your own wave happens to be coming up with crazy beer names that aren’t registered by other breweries, you might just have a bright future ahead of you."
You can look for Chillwave Double IPA on store shelves in March 2014.
