Our June shipment of Michael Jackson’s Rare Beer Club was delayed in Customs for a month, but who cares. This specialty, brewed once, was a collaboration between Tomme Arthur of Port Brewing Company/The Lost Abbey and Dirk Naudts of De Proef. They brewed this in Febuary 2007 in Belgium during the Zythos Beer Festival. 

This is the second time Tomme Arthur has been featured in the Rare Beer Club this year, so we think MJ has taken a liking to this brewer, as he did with Alastair Hook of Meantime Brewing. (While you’re at it, check out Meantime’s list of “heroes” in the beer community.)

From the bottle (750ml, corked, 8.5% abv):

We designed the Signature Ale as a hybrid of American and Belgian brewing techniques. The stated end goal was a Signature Ale made with decidedly American hopping additions and finished with the traditional Belgian yeast flavor of Brettanomyces. … We used a generous amount of Amarillo, UK Phoenix and German Brewer’s Gold hops in the boil and for dry hopping during conditioning. …

Signature Ale is a pale golden colored ale capped with a prodigious rocky white foam. The hops come together in a blend of far east spices and new world citrus which are tempered by an underlying subtle tartness from the yeast. These notes would be out of balance were it no for a genersou maltiness that holds the beer in check without becoming too sweet. Deisgned with a resinous hop quality in mind, we believe this to be a new world example of old world exploration. We salute the brewers and their journey as we release this beer on its travels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, left on the front porch today was this nifty little glasspack from Samuel Adams. Turns out if you were a Founding Subscriber to BeerAdvocate Magazine, BA and Jim Koch sent you a pair of the new Sam Adams beer glass. We have to admit, it’s pretty slick—both the glasses themselves and the idea of sending them for free to your core demographic.

As the picture demonstrates, there are numerous features in the glass design to “enhance your beer experience.” We’ve been wanting to try this for some time now and the opportunity just fell into our laps. Thank you, Jim Koch. Thank you, BA.

PS: If you click the link to BA Mag above, you’ll see chef Tim Schafer on the cover (a.k.a. The Brew Chef) who has a restaurant just north of Charlotte on Lake Norman.

In a strange story by the CBC today, “infectious disease experts” are thinking out of the box and exploring new ways to get young people to get their shots.

… young people are at higher risk of spreading and contracting infectious diseases because they have many close contacts. But they are also the toughest to reach with vaccine programs, which means health planners have to think creatively.

For example, she said, it might help if young people at bars are offered a vaccine with their beer.

“Maybe what you could do is say if you go to the bar between 5 and 7, you could get your beer half price if you get your measles, mumps, rubella immunization updated,” MacDonald said.

Brilliant.

Source: CBC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don Richardson of All Good Brands (standing center) talks about Boon Oude Kriek, at last night’s Belgium Meets Italy II dinner at La Caterina Trattoria.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Victor Giancola (co-owner of La Caterina with his wife, Robbin) introduces to the group Chef Shane Havener, center, and guest Chef Joseph Lewis, right, at our request. If you were there, you know why. Dinner was ridiculously delicious. This was quite honestly one of the best-paired dinners we’ve ever had.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bison Brewing says on their website, that due to the difficulty in finding organic honey, they will not be brewing Bison Honey Basil this year. Darn!