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…
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.
Pelican Saison du Pelican also went on draft this weekend according to the blog. Speaking of which, I happened to trade emails with Pelican Brewery General Manager, Ken Henson, over the weekend. Pelican has a photo up on its website of some mysterious barrels so I posed the question. As it turns out, contained in those barrels is this year’s batch of Stormwatchers’ Winterfest, currently aging in bourbon barrels for three months. They are one month into the aging process and Henson describes the beer as already “absolutely incredible.” They are dubbing this beer as “The Perfect Storm” and apparently for good reason.
This helps us segue to another interesting tidbit that caught my eye over the weekend. Ever watch the Discover Channel show called, The Deadliest Catch? It appears as though Rogue Ales will be doing some cross-marketing with the show which features the dangerous lives of crab fishermen in the Bering Sea. Pictured on the bottle above is Captain Sig Hansen of the Northwestern. (Clicking on the pic will take you to a video about the show. The beer is shown for about five seconds after the two minute mark). Did we mention that the show’s creator is named Thom Beers? Otherwise, no more information on Rogue Deadliest Ale at the moment.
Finally, up in Washington, it looks like Baron Brewing is coming out with a new beer called Black Bonney. Nothing specific is known about it but it does say “Three Skulls Ales” on the label, a phrase that yields zero results in Google. I’ll let you know when I have more info…