Crooked Hammock and Swell Joe Coffee partner for new fall brew

For some, the word “brew” denotes beer. For others, coffee. The teams at Swell Joe Coffee and Crooked Hammock Brewery have beer and coffee lovers covered as they prepare to celebrate the fourth seasonal release of Crooked Hamock’s Jav-O-Lantern brew.

The popular brew is the brainchild of Jon Schorah, head brewer and beer brand director at Crooked Hammock Brewery. In addition to real pumpkin smoked over cherry wood, Jav-O-Lantern also features coffee beans from Swell Joe’s popular Colombian roast Stoked, plus a special blend of pumpkin spices and dark roasted barley.

“This type of ‘brew to the power of two’ collaboration plays into our roastery’s vision to create brand-harmonious partnerships,” said Karen Johnson from Swell Joe Coffee. “We’re thrilled to have our coffee enjoyed in conventional as well as unconventional ways. We’re inspired by partnerships with other local brands that create something bigger than what we can each do alone.”

The creation of the highly anticipated Jav-O-Lantern beer brew has been underway since early August when Swell Joe’s Drew Johnson and Dave Vitella fired up their small-batch coffee roaster and roasted 40 pounds of their raw Colombian beans to create Swell Joe’s rock-solid roast Stoked. Following the degassing process, the roasted coffee beans were delivered to Crooked Hammock Brewery’s Middletown  location in early August for the official brewing process. The canning process wrapped up two weeks later.

This year’s Jav-O-Lantern brew is a hauntingly dark ale as complex as it is delicious. Schorah said, “Jav-O-Lantern was the first recipe I created when I joined the brew team at Crooked Hammock in 2016, and we’ve been blown away by the positive feedback from customers as well as craft beer aficionados in the industry.”

Jav-O-Lantern received a mention in CraftBeer.com’s Offbeat Pumpkin Beers of 2017, citing that the brewery, typically known for breezy beers to fit the beachside lifestyle, started a series called Dark Side of Hammock, and one of its first offerings was Jav-O-Lantern, a smoked pumpkin ale with dark coffee and spices.

About the collaboration with Swell Joe Coffee as an ingredient in Jav-O-Lantern, Schorah said, “We’re excited to watch this unique seasonal brew grow in popularity year after year, and are stoked to partner back up with the team at Swell Joe Coffee to keep it fresh, local and buzzworthy.”

Crooked Hammock’s fall seasonal, Jav-O-Lantern, a smoked pumpkin coffee ale, will be available in a limited number of 16-oz 4-packs for pickup starting Saturday, Sept. 5, in Lewes and Middletown.

Swell Joe Coffee, a locally owned and operated small-batch coffee roastery, is located steps away from the original Surf Bagel at 17382 Coastal Highway in Lewes.