Last month I told you about the charity auction that the local craft beer community put together to honor the late Jeff Gish, a self-professed beer nerd and all-around good guy. In the spring while he was still going through daily dialysis as part of his battle with kidney cancer, Derrick Morse of Mantra Artisan Ales brewed a beer that was based on Gish’s favorite sweet treat. It was a milk stout brewed with caramel, peanuts, vanilla and chocolate, and quickly became a favorite in the taproom. Mantra donated a portion of all sales to go toward Gish’s medical expenses.
Even after Gish passed away, Morse and the Mantra team did not want to let his dreams die and decided to release the beer as a commercially packaged product. The beer is called Guru Gish, a name with a double meaning. First of all, "Guru" acknowledges Gish’s status as one of the thought leaders of the local beer scene and as an avid collector of delicious and obscure brews. It's also a rhyming pun for the name of the particular popular local candy cluster bar that Gish was so enamored of.
Four years in the making, Guru Gish is the beer that Gish always wanted Morse to brew, and starting Saturday, Dec. 17, it will be available in four-packs of bottles at the Mantra taproom, beginning at noon. Purchasers will be limited to one case apiece to help spread the love a little further. Brewed with two different hops and seven varieties of malt, Guru Gish is certainly more than a one-trick pony of a milk stout. It has the potential to be a fantastic winter beer to enjoy by a crackling fire.
A portion of the proceeds from pints of Guru and sales of the four-pack goes to Kidney Cancer Association, and there will be a special auction on Saturday for a large-format 3-liter bottle. So at the risk of attracting a cease-and-desist letter (because, hey, it’s for a good cause,) I say, “Go get a Guru. It’s good!”
Mantra Artisan Ales
216 Noah Drive, Suite 140
Franklin, Tenn.
