[Great thanks to the author of this post, Matt Hoffman (@tonapdivine), who is an independent music journalist who writes for Relix, JamBase, and other publications. We would also like to thank contributor Tedd Kanakaris (@teddkanakaris), who founded and runs the ESG-focused Sandpiper Wealth, is a member of Gotta Jibrew, and dabbles with music and storytelling around the Phish community online. Thank you both! -Ed.]

For over four decades, a love of Phish has been the tie that binds any number of communities, both analog and digital. In turn, these communities have proven fertile ground for countless amazing stories, and now that summer tour is done, we’re excited to tell the story of Gotta JiBrew, a new hazy IPA from Lawson’s Finest Liquids that’s named after a group of friends who get together monthly to sample beer from local breweries.

The idea for the collaboration arose in 2024, when Phish lyricist Tom Marshall ran into brewery owner Sean Lawson at Mondegreen. When the Gotta JiBrew group came up in conversation, Lawson invited them to Vermont to collaborate in brewing a beer. The group worked with Lawson to brew the inaugural batch that the brewery will serve beginning today, September 24th, at their taproom in Waitsfield, Vermont. The story of this collaboration is just one example of how the Phish community can bring people together to create something special.

But before we get into the story, let’s talk about the beer itself.

Reach for a Beer

Gotta JiBrew is an ultra-soft hazy IPA that tastes like a mix of passionfruit, guava, ripe berries, and citrus zest. It has a pillowy mouthfeel and low IBU (bitterness), which allows the juicy hops-driven flavors to shine. It’s extremely hazy, consistent with a lot of New England IPAs and apropos of the smoke and steam that appear at any Phish show.

Glad That I’m Here

Marshall grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, and as a child became friends with Pete Cottone, who is name dropped in Wilson, along with Mike Christian and Rog, and who came to play drums in Marshall’s then-band, Amfibian. (Scott Metzger also played in Amfibian, long before he was a founding member of JRAD and LaMP.) Both Marshall and Cottone grew to love craft beer, as did their friend Ryan Stanley, owner of SetListTees and life coach who managed Amfibian when they were active.

With a fourth friend Scott Barsamian—whose chance elevator encounter and casual beer chat with Tom Marshall blossomed into a lifelong friendship—the idea was born to visit local breweries once a month. The circle soon expanded to include industry pros like Matt Schuster of Conclave Brewing and Dave DelSonno of Carton Brewing. United by a shared love of craft beer and Phish, they christened themselves “Gotta JiBrew,” a nod to Gotta Jibboo, a fan-favorite since its first performance in 1999.

Without intention for notoriety or profit, the group is building a following. I first connected with member Tedd Kanakaris over our commonality in music and career pursuits. We were both Phish fans pivoting away from corporate finance into music community entrepreneurship. I was sharing my journey on LinkedIN here and Tedd was sharing his through Instagram, @teddkanakaris. Through storytelling and in building deep ties in the Phish world, Tedd has become a natural ambassador for the group. Meanwhile, Ryan Stanley curates their Instagram, @gotta_jibrew, which has evolved from snapshots at breweries to meetups at shows, sporting Gotta JiBrew-branded banners and tees. Now, the crew is doing beer collaborations purely for the joy of it.

Dripping With This Strange Design

in August 2024, Tom ran into Lawson at Mondegreen. Tom told Sean about Gotta JiBrew (the group), and Sean suggested the entire crew come to Vermont to help create a beer that captured their shared spirit. The group decided to take Lawson up on his offer, and in August 2025, most of its members found themselves in the Mad River Valley.

“One thing I’ve always loved about Phish is their bold exploration of music and deep improvisation,” Lawson explains. “I wanted Gotta JiBrew’s recipe to be a journey of new-to-me ingredients and techniques. In that sense, Gotta JiBrew wasn’t just inspired by Phish’s lyrics, but by their overall creative essence.” Lawson guided the group through experimental brewing techniques he hadn’t tried before: Cascade hops in the mash, Solero in the whirlpool, Superdelic for dry hopping, plus a thiolized yeast strain called Cosmic Punch.

To hear the members of the group tell it, the scene in Vermont felt like a family reunion. Lawson hosted the group near the brewery in the Mad River Valley, and the Gotta JiBrew crew showed up with plenty of craft beer, with the musicians in the group — Pete, Tom, Ryan Hudson, and Tedd — bringing guitars, drums, and keyboards. Everyone had a blast, and the resulting hazy IPA came out well.

But the real magic happened in the margins of the trip: swimming holes, nights around the fire pit with stories of Princeton Day School years gone by, under clearly visible Milky Way stars and the simple act of friends making something together in one of Vermont’s most beautiful valleys.

September 24th Release: Community in Action

The release event today at Lawson’s Waitsfield taproom (155 Carroll Rd, 4:00 PM) will feature live music by Anthony Krizan (formerly of Spin Doctors) and the kind of community gathering that made this collaboration possible. If the beer resonates—and early tastings suggest it will—Sean has indicated interest in broader distribution.

This collaboration represents something increasingly rare: friends making something together because they enjoy each other’s company, not because spreadsheets suggested it.

Gotta JiBrew isn’t Lawson’s first Phish-inspired beer, e.g., previous releases include Hopcelot IPA, Lupulin Gumbo Juicy IPA, and Flocking Outside IPA. But it might be the most authentic. The collaboration emerged not from marketing strategies, but from community and real relationships, proving yet again that in the Phish world, the best projects happen when community comes first.

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