An Interview with James Chipman: First-Ever Riot Society Collab Winner

Not James Chipman but here is team member, Tim Warner, helping with bottling day for Brownie Points.

When we set out to create a collab with our fans, we had no idea the level of intensity and creativity that would flood our inbox. What stood out even more though is how well our fans know us.

Hidden Springs Ale Work represents a lot of things, but flash in the pan concepts are not one of them. The recipes we saw had tons of meat on their bones, with each one reflecting a serious level of attention to detail, and a deep sense of flavor and nostalgia. All the things that matter to us the most. So it was no surprise that first place went to a classically “thicc” Barrel Aged Imperial Stout.

We talked to James Chipman, our first place winner of our Riot Socity Beer Collab Invitational about his winning concept Brownie Points. As part of the winner’s prize, he was going to join us in bottling the beer along with Black Aggie Fluff, but flu season had other plans.

Tell us where you're from, what you do when you're not coming up with award-winning beer concepts, & your favorite Hidden beer(s).

Originally born and raised in the Metro Detroit area of Michigan, I’ve been a Floridian for almost 25 years now. 

Since retiring from the Sheriff’s Office and scouting baseball most of my free time is spent traveling to breweries and beer festivals with friends. 

Favorite Hidden beers: Nautical Unicorns, Whale Batter, Fluffle Wagon and the Kong series are some of my favorites from Hidden Springs. Do It For The Graham is also criminally underrated on Untappd.

You're our first winner of our first-ever Riot Society beer collab invitational. We were blown away by the response to the launch of RS, and then the contest. All our entries were really on-brand for the kind of products we make, but also really personal. As a RS member, what does this win mean to you?

I’m extremely grateful. I’ve participated in brewery memberships that have allowed members to vote on ingredients and barrels before, but never something like this that truly gave full control over our own recipe. This contest was unique and I can honestly say everything has exceeded my expectations. 

We've done a Sour Ale Neapolitan, and with Bottle Logic, a Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sweet Stout, so we love the challenge of an ice cream inspired beer. We're Florida natives, & ice cream is in our veins. What about you? Tell us more about what led you to pick the Half-Baked ice cream brand for your inspiration? I mean, there are TON of ice cream options out there. 

There’s a local doughnut spot called Damn Good Doughnuts near me — while they’re known for their doughnuts, they also have amazing brownies. My idea was a mash up of their crazy good coconut brownies and ice cream flavors from Ben & Jerry’s like “half baked” and “brownie batter”. Both of those brands are known for crazy creations with hard hitting flavors. I wanted my recipe to yield a similar explosion of flavors — not subtle hints. A super thicc, thicc, THICC boozy brownie batter sundae sipper.

People went pretty crazy with the votes for your concept. What do you think it was about your concept that drove the votes to a victory?

I had some stiff competition — I’m really looking forward to David’s BA Coquito stout that you’re releasing for your anniversary. Tampa Beer Week is kinda known for insane BA stout releases and y’all have a lengthy track record of success with them so I’m not surprised that people stuffed the ballot box for a stout. It might be a smaller niche but people still want thick, over the top pastry stouts with flavors that slap. 

Your recipe called for some very specific ingredients, which we decided to follow to a tee. What was your vision behind the adjuncts you landed on to bring this concept to life? 

Meeting Josh {Garman, co-owner of Hidden Springs Ale Works]] was great — he genuinely seemed interested and motivated to bring this concept to life. He was adamant that he wanted to follow the exact recipe and I really appreciated that. 

I landed on Philippines sourced cacao nibs to provide that fudgey, thick chocolate, malty base. Originally I wasn’t aware this would be a barrel aged stout so I was trying to cheat some barrel and boozy flavor in there as Indian vanilla beans are known to be extremely sweet but woody and smoky with hints of caramel and rum. In my head those nibs and beans would mesh well with the marshmallow, toasted coconut and brownie batter to create something special. I’m excited to see how everything comes together when the bottle releases.

Craft beer is going through major shifts, what's something you'd like to see more of in craft beer. How about at Hidden?

I think trends come and go. If you make great beer and treat people well, they’ll keep coming back. Understandably as the economy has taken a hit so has the craft beer industry. There’s less people with extra cash to spend on BA stouts that are often more money than actual bourbon now. I think y’all do a great job at keeping bottles reasonably priced and keeping your niche involved through things like bottle shares and this contest. You’re also not afraid to try new things, however crazy they might be.

One thing in particular that I suggested to Josh was “pulling nails” — a tasting event. [Hey! We listen to our fans, & we have an event planned.] Allow folks to see and appreciate the process of grain to glass. Showcase your in-house roasting and pull nails to sample stouts aging in that monument of barrels that y’all have. When you get to learn and understand the investment of cost, space, and time — and when you get to witness the process of something as it’s evolving it often brings a greater appreciation.

Finally, tell us who you plan to share your bottles with & what's the next bottle you're cracking open?

I’m extremely blessed to say that this craft beer hobby has introduced me to amazing friends. We have a pretty large group of friends from several different states that meet up for festivals and shares throughout the year — I’m looking forward to sharing with them the most. 

As for the next bottle I’ll be cracking — as I’m writing this I just received some beer mail from a friend in south Florida. I have my eyes on — In Love With the Coco, a recent 3 Sons Brewing Co. membership bottle that’s been aged for 23 months in 10-year old Basil Hayden barrels with what’s described as “an obscene amount of sweet toasted and raw coconut”.

Thanks James, it’s been our pleasure!