(Chico, CA) – There have been a couple more articles published since the press release was first issued on this collaboration between two mega-craft brewers, California-based Sierra Nevada Brewing and Delaware-based Dogfish Head. First, this has to be one of the most well-done labels I have ever seen. From the blending of the various items and birds in the tree to the subtle placement of the brewery logos in the background . . . A+ ! Another thing I found peculiar were the production numbers floating around.

According to Mutineer Magazine, “About 3,000 cases will find their way across the country, with most of it ending up in Northern California, Delaware, New York, and Pennsylvania.” For the rest of us, damn! Might be looking at a case-per-store limit for other states and maybe even some stores in the above states, too.

DRAFT Magazine goes more in-depth on the project, giving some background and other tidbits. As we already know from the press release, Life and Limb will hit store shelves in November in 24 oz. bottles (and limited draft for on-premise accounts). Limb and Life will be draft-only and come before it in October. Here are the numbers from Draft: “Bottles are expected to retail for $10. Kegs will be harder to come by, as the entire batch is right around 350 barrels (just under 11,000 gallons).” The article also notes that the brewery estimates 75 kegs of Limb & Life.

I’m curious as to whether we can back into the case number stated from the Mutineer article. Let’s crunch some numbers, shall we? [Updated to adjust my previous miscalculation of 1,300 extra cases]

350 barrels x 31 gals/barrel = 10,850 gallons
10,850 x 128 oz/gal = 1,388,000 oz.
1,388,000 oz. / 24 oz./bottle = 57,867 bottles
57,867 bottles x 12/case = 4,822 cases

However, that is without deducting an additional 75 kegs of Limb & Life (brewed with the second. That is approximately 50 barrels worth. Is it possible to have 1/7 of a batch of beer be second runnings? Even if there is a 1:1 ratio between the second runnings and what went in the kegs (meaning that there is no additional base beer that was used), that would still yield an additional 1,300 cases over Mutineer Mag was told (see comments from them below).

At first, I thought that the case difference of 1,305 was a big deal that could mean an extra case or two for a lot of stores. Then I took a closer look at the press release and saw that Limb & Life is actually made with the second runnings of Life & Limb. So no extra cases as far as I can see. Still, I guess that we can infer that there should be more than 150-200 kegs of Limb & Life? (1,305 x 12 x 24) / 128 / 15.5 = 189 kegs if I did that right. (ignore due to miscalculations)

I guess what I am getting at is that there would seem to be about 1,300 cases of beer unaccounted for if all of Life & Limb was indeed bottled. Is it possible that these two breweries were diabolical enough to hold back some of the batch for barrel-aging? Sounds like I have a question to ask the breweries . . . or maybe I should just follow the words of the Buddhists:

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”