Monthly Archives: August 2008

The Week in Craft Beer: The Dissident, Breakfast Stout lead the way

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I don’t how best to recap a week with 13 or 14 posts so if you missed anything, do me a favor and scroll to the bottom center of the page and click, “Previous entries,” to see if something interests you.  If you want upcoming events, refer to this post.  Otherwise, for the lazy, here are the top stories:

Deschutes Brewery announced that The Dissident will be released on September 1st. [Full press release in PDF].

Founders Brewing announced that Breakfast Stout will be released on September 20th (Founders now has this available for sale at the brewery (growler fills allowed for this as well as the new Crystal Rye Persuasion!).  Also on tap are Barrel-Aged Reds Rye and Backwoods Bastard among others). Continue reading →

Beer notes SoCal: Ballast Pt. to bring back Sculpin IPA & Stone, Bruery, Green Flash…

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Ballast Point Brewing announced on its Myspace blog yesterday that it will bring back the #5 ranked American IPA in the world, Sculpin IPA, though it gave little details as to when that would be. Rest assured, however; for those who don’t like to wait, a very limited seven-barrel batch of Dorado Double IPA is now on draft at the breweries.

The Bruery posted some interesting news on its blog as well. Today, the boys are brewing up Autumn Maple, their new fall seasonal. What’s Continue reading →

Founders Brewing announces September release of Breakfast Stout

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(Grand Rapids, MI) – Founders Brewing formally announced that it will release Founders Breakfast Stout on Saturday, September 20th with a breakfast event from 10-1pm. Tickets are required to attend the event and will be going for $25 a pop (four tix per person). Only 200 tickets will sold. According to Founders’ site, “Included in the ticket price is entry, a commemorative 16oz chilsom coffee mug with event and brand logo, your first fill-up of Breakfast Stout, and an all-you-can-eat gourmet breakfast buffet, catered by San Chez Bistro.

Tickets will be available in the Tap Room at Founders (in person or by phone: 616-776-1195), beginning at 11:00am on August 27th, until all 200 are gone.”

Weyerbacher Harvest Ale: A Sneak Preview

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[8/19 Update: Just heard from Chris Wilson. He says that this beer is primarily made with Cascade and some Nugget, no Centennial. I am just as confused as you are. He says 50 bbl this time so the beer will stay in PA in bottle and draft form. They plan to make more for next year's batch, hop-yield permitting.]

(Allentown, PA) – Here is the first look at Weyerbacher Harvest Ale. I was hoping to get more info from Chris Wilson, Head Brewer, by now (if for no other reason than to send him a reply thank you for creating the masterful beer that is Weyerbacher Thirteen). Luckily, Tim Blangger of the Tri-City Herald did some of the legwork for me. Here is the story:

I alluded to the beer last week, but to refresh memories I referenced a Flying Fish Brewing blog article that discussed Dan Weirback’s hop farm. Continue reading →

Beer notes: Tyranena Hop Whore to return, Deschutes the Dissident pre-orders sell out

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Tyranena Brewing sent out its weekly newsletter today informing beer people that rather than brew a new recipe for its next Brewers Gone Wild! beer, it will bring back an old favorite: Hop Whore Imperial IPA.  Only problem is that the brewery is running dangerously low on Simcoe hops and will have to tweak the recipe.  Other breweries have had to do the same this year in order to pull off their beers including Smuttynose with its Big A IPA.  No word on when it will be released yet.

Deschutes The Dissident seemed to be the story of the day yesterday Continue reading →

New beers entering the Pennsylvania market

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Haandbryggeriet Norwegian Holiday Ale

Haandbryggeriet Nissefar Holiday Ale is just one of several new beers that Pennsylvania can expect to see hit the market later in the year. In fact, it is only one of three from the Scandanavian brewery, the others being Dobbel Dram, a double IPA, and Haandbakk, a sour ale. I just recently started tracking what is coming in to Pennsylvania and there are a few other brews of interest.
Continue reading →

Beer notes does Colorado: Odell Brewing, Fort Collins, Left Hand, GABF 2008

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Left Hand Warrior IPA Left Hand Twin Sisters

[8/13 Update: The Coloradoan also had an article on Odell's proposed 16k sq. foot expansion as well in yesterday's paper.]

We start off with a quick reminder/update on a previously reported item. Odell Brewing Woodcut No. 1 Ale will go on sale beginning at 1pm at the tap room. It is still tough to say what style this is though the brewery has come out and said that the second release will be a golden ale. This one will be limited to 120 cases at $25 a bottle.

The Coloradoan reported earlier this week that yet another craft brewery Continue reading →

End of summer Craft Beer Events Preview

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A scene at the 1st Annual Steel City Big Pour

Above: a scene at the 1st Annual Steel City Big Pour

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[Late Addition: Where the Wild Beers Are: an event taking place at Stub & Herb's in Minneapolis this Sunday featuring Jolly Pumpkin, Cantillon, Fantome, and more. Looks like registration is still open!]

I don’t cover events a lot here but there’s an awful lot happening over the next month or so that is worthy of posting. Here goes…

Hopcat Beer Advocate Meetup – There is a huge Beer Advocate event at the new HopCat in-house brewery in Grand Rapids, MI this Wednesday night.

Stone 12th Anniversary Party – On Saturday, Stone Brewing celebrates its 12th anniversary. There are apparently a few tickets left Continue reading →

Brookston Report: Trash and Trinkets Bill Passes in California

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Just saw this on the Brookston Beer Bulletin tonight though the fight is not over. The ‘trash and trinkets’ bill, which will allow more leniency in terms of what goodies breweries can provide to retailers to help promote the sale of beers, passed the Senate earlier today. The beer community is opposed because small brewers don’t have the funds to put into marketing as a brewery like A-B does. Some fear that it could begin to hurt craft beer sales as early as next year.

The bill apparently has a little ways to go before it becomes official. Percent chance that Arnold will pull a Gray Davis circa 2000?

Beer notes Northwest: Deschutes the Dissident, Rogue Deadliest, Pelican Stormwatcher’s, Baron Black Bonney

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Rogue Deadliest Ale

Before we get into the notes, a quick update on Russian River Pliny the Elder hitting SoCal this weekend. Joey at South Bay Drugs is reporting about 30 bottles left. He ships, too, so consider giving him a call to place an order. It was also spotted at the Olive Tree Marketplace over the weekend. It is also on draft at Hamilton’s Tavern. Call around because it’s here! And now for the notes…

deschutes-the-dissident-site We now have more info on Deschutes the Dissident (press release pdf) which will be out September 1. The bugs have been working their magic for over 18 months helping to create this Oud Bruin-style beer. A portion of the beer aged in pinot and cabernet barrels for over three months and Washington cherries have been at work for a year. It is the second Reserve Series brew to hit the market in 2008. The first was Deschutes Black Butte XX which came out the last week of June.

Continue reading →

Captain Lawrence Smoke from the Oak (Rum Barrel) to be released August 23

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(Pleasantville, NY) – Captain Lawrence Smoke from the Oak (Rum Barrel) will be released this weekend according to ryscott at Beer Advocate. He mentioned that Owner, Scott Vaccaro, told him it will be sold at the brewery this coming Saturday, August 16, at noon (not August 17 as the official website suggests). The CL website reports a production level of 80 cases. Scott Vaccaro sent out an email this morning clarifying that the release date will actually be Saturday, August 23, at noon. 85 cases with a four bottle limit per person.

This is the second release in the Smoke from the Oak series, a group of barrel-aged variations of the brewery’s Smoked Porter. The first was the Wine Barrel release this past spring. For this one, the beer has been aged in barrels previously holding Virgin Islands rum for twelve years.

The brewery still has another three renditions in the series coming up in the next year: the Bourbon Barrel version comes out this fall, and all-new Apple Brandy Barrel and Port Barrel versions debut in 2009.

Speculation is that Rosso e Marrone, the brewery’s sour ale companion to Cuvee de Castleton, will be released later this month or in September.

Lost Abbey Witch’s Wit now available

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As it turns out, this weekend actually saw the release of not one, but TWO Lost Abbey beers. In addition to the Cable Car release at Toronado, Witch’s Wit went on sale for the first time at the brewery yesterday according to the My Beer Pix blog. (Note that it may take some time for the beer to arrive in stores).

Witch’s Wit is described as a “very light 4.8% ABV and brewed with Grapefruit, Orange Peel and Cardamom.” The beer is supposedly going to be a “full release” to all of the normal distribution channels and will be available on draft in Southern California and possibly Arizona. And it will be interesting to see whether this creation can topple the ‘Orchard White‘ made by fellow SoCal brewers, The Bruery, for #1-rated Witbier on RateBeer.

Portsmouth Kate the Great to come out on 02/09/09

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(Portsmouth, NH) – An announcement was posted on the Portsmouth Brewery website yesterday that the next batch of the wildly popular Portsmouth Kate the Great will be released on Monday, February 9, 2009.  The beer sold out in a couple hours at the most recent release in late June.  The video above has been uploaded by someone at the brewery on a ‘Portsbrew’ youtube account.  Hopefully, we see some more videos from this little brewpub.

Portsmouth Imperial IPA and Oatmeal Stout are both on tap right now and are A-rated beers at Beer Advocate.  [ed: They are both phenomenal beers though do not receive the same level of recognition as Kate the Great.]

Surly Brewing leads our top beers at Great Taste of the Midwest 2008

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[8/9 Update: Fest starts at 1pm today.  There is a real ale tent and an educational center tent as well as the typical beer tables featuring breweries mentioned below.  All information can be found in the link below.]

(Madison, WI) – We got the word out so fast on the brewery list earlier this week that we neglected to notice that a BEER list went up soon thereafter. Hopefully this short list of our top beer picks for Great Taste of the Midwest 2008 will find those who are attending the event today! Note that a few great breweries like Bell’s, Jolly Pumpkin, Dark Horse, etc. did not have beer lists up yet as of this week so they are excluded from this list. All we know is Bell’s will have Cask Two Hearted there. Full beer lists, beer descriptions, and table locations, etc. for this event can be found here at the official site. (If the file doesn’t download as a pdf, just manually change the file extension).

10. Short’s Brewing
Short’s will bring its top notch Anniversary Ale 2008: “A true blow-your-face-off double IPA to commemorate another year of small business survival in northern Michigan. Seven different varieties of hops in each of seven hop additions. Lots of hops, lots of Briess malts. 100 IBUs, 8.5%.”
Cup-A-Joe Coffee Creme Stout: “Robust stout with 3.5 pounds of Higher Grounds espresso and 7 pounds of lactose per barrel. The espresso is used in four different windows during the brewing process. Briess malts (Wisconsin!), Centennial hops, 20 IBUs, 5.6%.”

9. Town Hall Brewery
This beer sounds delicious… Kentucky Dessert: “Imperial Stout aged in Continue reading →

Weekly Friday Roundup: Toronado 21st Anniversary (LA Cable Car release), Smuttynose and more

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Dear god…straight-up bullet points this week:

Great Taste of the Midwest parties are going down tonight and the fest is, of course, tomorrow.

Toronado San Francisco celebrates its 21st anniversary tomorrow evening. Among the beers that will be on hand is the (presumably) new release of Lost Abbey Cable Car and last year’s Toronado 20th Anniversary Ale. Rumor has it that some Cable Car bottles will make their way to the San Diego location as well. If you don’t know much about this beer, you should: “Cable Car was a special blend of three oak barrels which was created for THE Dave Keene and the world famous Toronado at 547 Haight Street.” – Lost Abbey blog. It also happens to be one of the top 50 beers in the world at RateBeer.

Speaking of Lost Abbey, The Angel’s Share was named the Best American Cask Beer at the Great British Beer Festival this week. What beer award hasn’t Tomme Continue reading →

Charity Beer Auction and Raffle to aid young climber in cancer battle

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(Wayne, PA) – In looking up events last week on the BA calendar, I stumbled upon a beer auction taking place in Wayne, PA, this Saturday at noon. What initially peaked my interest was that the auction features a bottle of Portsmouth Kate the Great signed by Head Brewer, Tod Mott, as well as a bottle of Toronado 20th Anniversary. Come to find out, there is a lot more behind this auction.
Continue reading →

Beer notes: Backing up our beer reviews after Beer Advocate and RateBeer situations

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[Click 'Continue on!' below for instructions as to how to easily back up all of your RateBeer reviews in 3 mins!]

A couple weeks after site troubles hindered RateBeer, Todd Alstrom announced at Beer Advocate today that he had accidentally deleted user wants/gots lists. The accident apparently occurred while making improvements to the wants/gots system. After several years of providing excellent, and for the most part, free, services on their respective sites, the beer community clearly offered its support in both cases as it should have. The two incidents raise an important issue, however: backup.

An important question for all reviewers, especially those of you who have over 1,000 reviews at one of the sites: How often do you back up your Continue reading →

Weyerbacher Bravo comes out next week

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Weyerbacher Bravo

(Easton, PA) – On the heels of new distribution deals leading to expansion into states like Georgia and Wisconsin, Weyerbacher Brewing continues to chug along with its series of special one-offs that will only be released right at home in Pennsylvania. Weyerbacher Bravo is a red wheat ale which will be released next week in kegs in PA and in (12 oz) bottles only at the brewery, most likely by next weekend.

Bravo is #2 in the Brewer’s Select Series after Alpha was released Continue reading →

Great Taste of the Midwest 2008 takes Madison by storm this weekend

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Great Taste of the Midwest 2007 - photo courtesy of Libations.wordpress.com(Madison, WI) – The brewery list and table setup for Great Taste of the Midwest 2008 is now online as of earlier tonight. By and large, it looks like most breweries that came last year will be returning. However, in scanning the list I noted at least one brewery that will be new this year that may be of interest. Kansas-based Free State Brewing, a brewery that has seemed quiet over the years despite a good reputation, will join this year’s lineup of breweries. There is no beer list out yet so we don’t know yet whether Free State will bringing its top 50-rated Owd Macs Imperial Stout or highly regarded Old Backus Barleywine.

GTOMW takes place this Saturday in Madison, WI, and is easily one of the Continue reading →