HERSHEY, Pa. — Tröegs Independent Brewing announced the addition of a brand-new beer: Graffiti Highway, a juicy, tropical IPA with a touch of haze that’s primed for adventure.
Graffiti Highway joins Perpetual IPA, Troegenator Double Bock, Sunshine Pilsner, and more as part of the brewery’s year-round offerings, Tröegs said in a press release.
Inspired by an abandoned stretch of road near the former Coal Region town of Centralia that became a Pennsylvania landmark, Graffiti Highway IPA wanders off the beaten path, where twists and turns of citrus and tropical aromas merge into a colorful mosaic, Tröegs said.
Graffiti Highway is an abandoned portion of Route 61 adjacent to the abandoned town of Centralia, the famous Columbia County borough that was formally closed in 1993 -- decades after a coal mine fire ignited and spread beneath the town.
The abandoned stretch of road became an off-the-books tourist attraction for free-spirits and counterculture figures drawn to the desolated landscape. Thousands of messages, drawings and other graffiti was scrawled onto the road's surface until the owners of the land surrounding the roadway buried it all under piles of gravel during the 2020 pandemic.
"It was more than just asphalt; it was a gathering place for like-minded artists to make their mark and contribute to a colorful mosaic in an otherwise fading landscape," Tröegs said in a blog post about the inspiration behind the beer. "The spray-painted pavement remained a surface level reminder of our area’s history until 2020, when it was buried forever."
Like many of Tröegs’ beers, Graffiti Highway started as a series of test batches through the brewery’s Research & Development brewhouse known as the Scratch Lab.
“The Scratch Lab is a 3-barrel system that allows us to test hop combinations, times and temperatures side-by-side,” said Tröegs Brewing Manger Tim Mayhew. “We’re able to taste the nuances of these trials and find new inspirations.”
This exploration of flavors has always been central to the independent brewery’s ethos.
“Each time we taste a pilot batch, it’s like finding a new color of the rainbow,” adds Tröegs co-founding brother and brewmaster John Trogner.
Tröegs worked with Pittsburgh-based muralist and designer Jewels Despines to turn the road’s colorful canvas into fun, funky label art.
“While I do make other things outside of painting, I feel that I am truly at my best with a brush or a spray can in my hand,” said Despines. “The background of the can art is layered with classic graffiti elements like drips, arrows, and bubbles.”
With notes of juicy citrus, tropical fruit, and a hint of mixed berry, Graffiti Highway speaks to the artistic spirit in everyone.
Graffiti Highway IPA is 6% ABV and will be available on draft and in 12-oz. cans throughout Tröegs’ entire distribution footprint starting Monday, March 4.