No strangers to being endorsed by ’90s musicians, Lost Coast Brewery is finally forging a formal partnership to ensure its latest beer ends up in the coolest mouths possible. 

Pennywise

Remember Pennywise? It’s OK if you don’t. Quickly, they were a part of the wave of more-melodic California punk rock bands who benefitted from the rise of Green Day — think NOFX, Rancid, The Offspring, etc. — and provided the soundtracks to countless homemade skateboard videos. Revealing fact: While Google-jogging my memory I discovered that they performed on 8 of the first 16 Warped Tours. That should place them for you. 

While the band is still going strong, by all indicators — heavy touring, new-ish releases — what is locally relevant about Pennywise this week is that they’ve announced that they are teaming with Barbara Groom’s Lost Coast Brewery to produce an “easy drinking Session IPA” (4.8% ABV) sporting the too-obvious-to-pass-up moniker “Pennywiser.” 

 

Here’s part of the pitch from the Pennywise website:

“Known for their irreverence, independence, and doing things their own way, Pennywise remained true to their roots and their fans when developing Pennywiser, focusing on creating a unique brew that’s easy to drink and appeals to a wide range of beer drinkers.”

Additionally, the beer carries the slogan “The Bro-Hymn of Beers,” a reference to their song “Bro-Hymn,” one of their live staples written to honor a fallen bandmate. Mosh along below:

Why do this now? As part of the PR rounds for his band’s latest venture, Pennywise bassist Randy Bradbury told the OC Register that he and his bandmates had long joked of having their own, punnily named brew. Lost Coast Brewery was apparently the first to agree to play along. Says Bradbury to the OCR:

“We had talked to a few different breweries and there was some good beer to offer up in the past, but nothing ever worked out. When Lost Coast Brewery got involved, that was a company that I was familiar with because I’ve had their Great White beer and the Indica IPA and I’ve enjoyed them and probably stumbled around or taken my shirt off or something after drinking them. But, the minute I heard their name thrown in, personally I was very interested because they’re a great company and their labels always have really cool artwork. I knew it would be a perfect fit.”

Thirsty yet? Well, it sounds you’ll have to wait a bit to swill your own Pennywiser ‘round these parts. Yes, the beer will be released at a private tasting party in Hermosa Beach this Friday. After that, though, according to the Pennywise website, it “will be available as a limited release in select Southern California stores bars and restaurants in early September, with expanded distribution in the coming months.”

But! Should the collision of light beer and punk rock inspire you to trek, you have the option to make a pilgrimage to San Diego on October 21 where you can enjoy both Pennywise and Pennywiser as part of the Ye Scallywag! Craft Beer, Food and Music Festival. Plan accordingly.