John Laffler Brands PH1's 56th Mark, Plans Late-July Saison Release

Q: As a priceless brewing artifact tours the US, who decides which brewery is worthy of it next?

There appears to be no formal board, auction, or public selection process. Based on the reporting, the next brewery is effectively chosen through the barrel’s chain of custody and the relationships among the brewers who have stewarded PH1. The story shows PH1 moving from New Belgium to Russian River, then to The Rare Barrel, back to Peter Bouckaert at Purpose Brewing, then to Side Project, and now to Off Color. That pattern suggests the decision is made privately by the current custodian—often in consultation with Bouckaert, whose role in creating and preserving the barrel’s legacy gives him unusual influence. What seems to make a brewery “worthy” is not money or size, but standing within the sour and wild-beer community. Every stop on PH1’s journey has been a respected brewery with deep experience in mixed-culture, barrel-aged beer. The barrel is treated less like property than like a shared cultural artifact, passed to brewers seen as capable of honoring its history and adding to its microbial lineage. Bouckaert’s planned appearance at Off Color reinforces that this is a trust-based tradition. In practical terms, the next destination is likely decided by the people already caring for PH1 and the small circle of brewers connected to its history, with reputation, technical skill, and collaborative spirit carrying the most weight.

1 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Jun 15

Late July is the target for Off Color’s still-unnamed saison aged in PH1, after John Laffler added the historic barrel’s 56th brewery brand in Chicago.
PH1 is a 60-gallon French oak cask from New Belgium’s 1998 sour-beer program, where it helped produce early La Folie—an influential American sour brown ale.
The barrel later resurfaced at Russian River in 2005, moved to the Rare Barrel in 2015 and returned to Peter Bouckaert in 2017 before reaching Side Project and then Off Color.
Microorganisms embedded in the wood link each beer brewed in PH1 to earlier batches, making the barrel both a living fermentation vessel and a symbol of collaboration in U.S. craft brewing.
Bouckaert plans to join Laffler in Chicago for the release and to brew another collaboration, extending a tradition that brewers say matters as many craft breweries struggle.