Scott Eversole checks a batch of his Honey Cristalweizen beer, to be served at the Lemon Lily Festival Launch. At left, a label from the brew. Photos courtesy Scott Eversole

Local brewmeister Scott Eversole and self-described “plant lady” Deanna Eversole, Scott’s mother, are both up to germinating something special for the Lemon Lily Festival.

For Scott, a longtime home brewer, it’s a “Lemon Lily Honey Cristalweizen,” a wheat beer that like Hefeweizen is often served in the summer because of its refreshing taste and quality. Scott created the beer to support ongoing propagation efforts to restore the once abundant lemon lily to its pre-poaching Idyllwild numbers and resplendence.

Weizen beers are generally “top-fermented” and produce overtones of clove and banana to create a refreshing taste. Cristalweizen or kristalweizen in German, filters out yeast used in fermentation unlike hefeweizen. The result is a generally lighter beer. Eversole’s Lemon Lily Honey Cristalweizen will be available at both the Festival Launch Party from 5:00 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 19 at Erin O’Neill’s Alpen Woods home (tickets are $20.00 per person), and at Friday’s Taste of Idyllwild, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nature Center (tickets $20 per person).

Deanna propagates the lily itself. “I love flowers,” she said. And, to her credit, she has germinated over 100 lemon lilies. It is a slow process, taking up to six years to produce a mature plant. Of the various propagators working with Dave Stith “(He’s our leader,” said Deanna), Deanna is the most productive. “I’m doing the most at this point,” she said. “I like doing this. Next year I’m hoping to have a greenhouse so that I can do even more.” Ultimately, the lemon lily’s fate rests with people like Deanna Eversole, dedicated to restoring it to the grandeur that once graced so much of this mountain.