Archive for April, 2008

 

This week’s beer bounty includes a few new things as well as some returning small batches and seasonals. The return of Abita’s Strawberry Wheat marks the coming summer and the He’Brew Rejewvenator sounds really interesting for another fruit beer—”half doppelbock, half Belgian-inspired dubbel with the juice of the sacred fig.” Of course, DFH Immort Ale has returned, too. If you’ve never had it, well, you really should. For lager fans, Coney Island Lager is quite quaffable on these warming days, if it were not for the scary-ass clown on the label. *shudder* Scary, scary, scary, scary.

For barleywine fans, we finally got in La Baladin Xyauyù. (Xyauyù is allegedly the name of the brewer’s daughter’s imaginary friend.) This was on the beer flight of our Le Baladin dinner last year and it was amazing. But, be forewarned, this is a splurger. This batch was brewed in ’05 and bottled in ’07. For you brewers out there, here’s the scoop:

Teo’s objective is to allow Xyauyu to perfectly oxidize during the aging proces of 2.5 years (oxidation plays a critical role in aging port, sherry, as well as our vintage beers—too much oxidation will ruin the liquid—too little will not optimize the change in flavor / aroma during the aging process). Here’s how Teo’s system works: Xyauyu is transfered to a steel vessel with transparent membrane and a “oxygen hat.” After several tastings during the 2.5 year aging process Teo decides when it’s time to bottle (it all depends upon the oxidation velocity).

Also, new are two additions from Malheur—Dark Brut Reserve and Malheur 12°, both of which took home Silvers at the World Beer Cup ’08.

ABITA Strawberry Harvest*
AVERY Karma*
CLIPPER CITY Heavy Seas Red Sky at Night*
DE LANTSHEER Malheur 12°
DE LANTSHEER Malheur Dark Brut Reserve
DOGFISH HEAD Immort Ale*
DOGFISH HEAD Palo Santo Maron*
FLYING DOG Garde Dog* (new spring seasonal!)
FLYING DOG Old Scratch Amber
JULIUS ECHTER Hefe-weizen
JULIUS ECHTER Hefe-weizen Dunkel
KAPUZINER Hefe-weizen
KAPUZINER Schwartz-weizen
LA BALADIN Xyauyù
SCHMALTZ BREWING He’Brew Coney Island Lager
SCHMALTZ BREWING He’Brew Rejewvenator

Still basking in the success that was bottled Sexual Chocolate, Foothills Brewery in Winston-Salem picked-up two medals at the World Beer Cup last week. Foothills brought home the Gold for their People’s Porter (Robust Porter category) and a Silver for Total Eclipse Stout (American Style Stout category).

Ham’s Brewhouse and Restaurant in Greenville won Bronze for their Peg Leg Pale Ale (America Style Strong Pale Ale category).

Congrats! View the full list here.

 

Molson wins bid for Olympics
Looks like Molson got the deal to be the official beer of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. Too bad that B.C. had to expand the highway from the city to ski-mecca, Whistler, to accomodate traffic to the games, thereby changing some of the coastal drive permanently. Sad. We do not like the Olympics. [canada.com]

Tennessee wants beer
“Tennessee Athletic Department officials say beer sales could help offset Thompson-Boling Arena’s more than $1 million annual operating deficit.” [sportingnews.com]

Sweetwater expands
The fine folks at Sweetwater Brewing Co. are enjoying their brand-spanking new 400-barrel fermentation tanks. [ajc.com]

Get with the program!
Trouble brews for Free the Hops campaigner after an LA times journalist outs him as a homebrewer, which is still illegal in Alabama. Shocking, we know. So many battles, so little time. According to the FTH forum, The Alabama State Senate doesn’t appear to be in a hurry to help, because today they “continued arguing about bingo in Macon county.”
[MontgomeryAdvisor.com]

It’s official!

The other half casually hands me some paperwork from the briefcase this morning and says “Here. I don’t know what this is.” Who really knows how long it was in there, but no matter. The US Patent & Trademark Office sent notice of our allowance for use! So, all you folks with the t-shirts, stickers, coasters and such with the ™—those are now considered vintage. That’s funny.

Lagunitas Brewing Company is here and we’re celebrating. Join us on an off-day Tuesday Tasting to sample some of the newest brews to hit NC. Ron from the brewery will be joining us, so you can ask him all sorts of questions about Frank Zappa. (Hopefully we’ll see some of We’re Only In It For The Money, the 4th Zappa tribute brew.) We love Lagunitas. They have a good sense of humor.

LAGUNITAS Censored
“This ale contains no actual copper but we’re pretty literal… It looked coppery, so we lamely called it a copper ale. Lots’a nice caramel malt though…” [5.9% abv]

LAGUNITAS I.P.A.
“Thanks for choosing to spend the next few minutes with this special homicidally hoppy ale. Savor the moment as the raging hop character engages the imperial qualities of the Malt foundation in mortal combat on the battlefield of your palate!” [5.7% abv]

LAGUNITAS Maximus
“At the height of the heat in the heart of the summer, we felt the only cure was a raging mouthful of fresh Hops and Malt. Caution: May remove enamel from teeth.” [7.5% abv]

LAGUNITAS Lucky 13 Mondo Large Red Ale
An anniversary release, Lucky 13 is American Strong Ale. Ruby red in color with a balance of hops and malts. [8.3% abv]