It seems pretty obvious that there are four seasons, so if a brewery decides to offer seasonal beers, they should have a quartet of them, right? Not at Yazoo, where owner Linus Hall had seen such great success from his seasonal selections that he decided to invent a fifth season, playoffs season. He explains, "During January and February after the holidays, there's not many better things to look forward to than sitting on the couch watching college football and NFL playoffs. So we decided to celebrate that with our new Playoffs Seasonal — Daddy O."
Daddy O is also a tribute to Hall's grandfather, Parker "Bullet" Hall, a football player at the University of Mississippi in the late 1930s who is a member of both the Ole Miss and College Football Hall of Fames. Bullet Hall (man, I love that name) was drafted into the NFL by the Cleveland Rams, where he was named both Rookie of the Year and MVP of the league in his first season in 1939.
Before Hall grand-père arrived at Ole Miss, the school had never really even tried to pass the ball, but a new coach brought the newfangled forward pass with him and discovered he had a player with an arm to throw it. Parker Hall also played halfback, safety and punter and kicked extra points for the Rebels. Oh, and he led the nation in average yards per kick return with 18.56. Dude was a stud!
Linus Hall has always wanted to come up with a beer to honor Bullet, whose likeness adorns the packaging in the form of a loving portrait painted by Linus's mother. It really is a family affair at Yazoo, and that's part of the reason why Linus thought that his grandfather was the perfect representative for his brand. "My grandfather went into the Navy in 1942 and then played for the 49ers briefly after the war ended, but he knew he had to get a real job to support his family. He started to work at a lumber mill back home in Mississippi, and my father and my uncles followed him to work in the family business. That's what I've tried to develop here at Yazoo, a family business that my daughters could follow me into if they choose to."
Although Daddy O was originally released as a seasonal in November and December, the reception has been strong enough for Yazoo to make the investment in packaging to bottle it as a standalone product, and Hall hopes to be able to add his granddad's beer to the year-round roster. Bottles just rolled off the Yazoo bottling line earlier this week and should now be available in kegs and packages wherever the brewery's beers are sold.
But does what's in the bottle measure up to Bullet's greatness? Normally a brewery that specializes in ales, Daddy O is a rare lager release for Yazoo. Specifically, it is an American pilsner made with traditional Franco-Belges pilsner malt and American hops that offer a delightful crisp citrus to the aroma and flavor without leaning toward the evergreen characters of over-hopped IPAs. In addition to the popular Cascade hops, Daddy O is made with a novel Lemondrop variety of hops that contributes a lovely lemony note to the beer that offsets the slight sulfur flavor that is typically present in beers made with lager yeasts.
Although Daddy O has been released as a Playoffs Seasonal, I think it will be an excellent warm weather beer as well, light enough to drink on a hot day without being a dull light lager that typically fills the coolers floating in local lakes. Bring something interesting to the party instead and try a sixer of Daddy O. Bullet would be proud!
In other Yazoo news, the taproom at the brewery is temporarily closed until January 13 as they do a little maintenance to the bar area, replacing some of the wood and re-tiling the area behind the tap handles. So if you have to miss out on a session of taproom drinking, it's good that there's at least a new option in the stores with Daddy O.
Hall also shared plans to discontinue their practice of periodic releases of their Hop Project line, an offering of beers that experimented with different varieties of hops through the years and has recently reached more than 80 iterations. After all the trials, the brewers at Yazoo have finally decided on the recipe from their 10th Anniversary beer, which was named 10-Year IPA. Yazoo has contracted with hops growers to provide enough hops going forward to be able to produce a year-round version of this IPA. The beer will probably be rebranded and released sometime later this year. Keep an eye on this space for more news.
