A beer (and print) done “in consideration of the connectedness of nations”

Aeronaut has something that very few breweries have going for them—a taste, a flavor, a goddamn signature. Maybe not across all of its offerings, but certainly across its brilliant IPAs, there’s something that’s distinctly… Aeronaut. They’re juicy but not too fruity, thick but not too filling, sweet but not so sugary that the hops lose their bite.

I’m not some online Speedo model who is slobbering over these beers because the brewery sent me a free four-pack to stick between my thighs and show off on the ’gram (though I’d be happy to flash everything for a few cases of this stuff). Nah, I say it ’cause I am perpetually impressed by not just the suds it’s pouring in Somerville, but also by the canvases it wraps its products in. Case in point: Nami Mono, a collaboration with Japas Cervejaria, a Stoughton-based craft collective of “Gypsy brewers Maíra Kimura, Yumi Shimada and Fernanda Ueno … three Brazilian ‘Sansei’ (Third generation Japanese who were born in a new country of residence)” brewing “with Japanese inspiration and ingredients.”

I promise to get back to the actual beer and how it tastes and those important details, but first I have to do something that most pretentious beer writers (including me) are loathe to do—compliment the artwork. Because while all its labels are funky and worth peeling off the can to slap on your wall, bedroom door, or laptop, especially with Nami Mono, Aeronaut has done a lot more than simply hire some painter at random to tag its aluminum.

For Nami Moni, which means “Wave Things” in Japanese, the collaborators tapped New England artists Adam O’Day and Andrew Jacob to illustrate the theme; specifically, they “created this artwork in consideration of the connectedness of our nations, the joys of international collaboration and the celebration of friendship.” And it isn’t just the packaging, either—gorgeous limited-edition Nami Mono lithograph prints (23” x 30”), done by Provincetown’s Funk & Schuster in archival ink on acid-free lithograph cotton paper and signed by both artists, are also available (you can order online or pick up at Aeronaut).

Oh, and about the beer… an international IPA brewed with toasted rice, it’s like a unicorn canoeing down your throat, tapping Citra and Brazilian acerola cherry ores against every last taste bud. It’s that aforementioned identifiable Aeronaut IPA bliss, but with the added love that Japas brings to the occasion. To say we’re looking forward to their further work together is the understatement of the decade, however short it’s been thus far.