Archive for October, 2008

 Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast Stout is back! Thankfully, just in time, as we had our last one from the cellar to celebrate Scott’s 35th last weekend. (Along with a Cuveé du Tomme.) Such a creamy, coffee stout, don’t miss it this time around. This one never lasts.

The popular

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, many say, and if you are a beer geek there is no better way to start the day than with a powerful, complex morning stout. The unique mix of oats and coffee gives this beer large body and power, while the coffee, at the same time, creates a nice balance.”

Other new brews ring in the arrival of the Holiday Gang:
DELIRIUM Noël (2008)*
DUPONT Avec le Bons Voeux 2008*
GREAT DIVIDE Hibernation Ale*
GULDEN DRAAK Vintage Label 2008*
SCALDIS Noël* (2008)—We now have 3-year vintages of this!

Also, for holidays, are magnums and jeroboams of Gulden Draak and Augustjn Triple.

The local French Broad Brewing Co. joins us for a four-flight sampling of their current selection of 22 oz. bottles. Altbier Kölsch makes its debut next week. Don’t miss it!

Kölsch
13 Rebels E.S.B.
Altbier
Wee-Heavy-er

Last week, we were blatantly accosted with beer and barbecue by our friends Sean and Chris from the forthcoming Fullsteam Brewery in Durham, NC. Seriously, the absolute nerve of them dropping by and forcing us to sample beer on their way to the Southern Foodways Alliance in Oxford, Miss. Some people.

First off, we love, love, love the concept of this brewery, using a variety of off-the-wall ingredients for flavor and fermentables. It’s an “agricultural brewery” which will aim to use local ingredients from our fair state. Take one of the current test batches, for example, a Sweet Potato Amber. (We want that. Now.) But we digress… Sean and Chris showed up in full Fullsteam Regalia with a teenie cup of beer and a teenie cup of meat product.

“What’s that?” asked Julie.
“That’s 12 Bones,” said Chris.
“What’s in the cup?” asked Julie.
“That Fullsteam’s Hickory Smoked Porter perfectly paired with pork, like barbecue,” said Sean.

“Hogwash is a Fullsteam experimental beer. It’s a hickory-smoked porter crafted specifically to go with North Carolina barbecue. Hogwash is light on the smoke: too much smoke can overwhelm the palate, and NC ‘cue tends to be subtle on the smoke and rarely overpowering. It’s a dark, toasty, and malty beer that’s perfect around the pit or with a plate. Sweet tea is fine, but Hogwash be divine!”

And they lived happily ever after. The end.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Fullsteam is still looking for a handful of investors!]

Over the weekend, Philip asked if we’d seen The Brewsician‘s photos of his westward beer travels as festival season wraps-up. We said “No, we didn’t. And what shall we see there?” Well, just the coolest thing ever, that’s what! Look closely at the photo above, which was taken at the world-famous Toronado on Haight in in San Francisco, and see if you see anything familiar. (It’s zoomed below, just in case you missed it.) Beerlanthropy® has gone cross-country!

Inspired by this photo, we’re starting The Beerlanthropy® Project. If you’re out and about in the world and spot a beerlanthropy® sticker, take a photo and e-mail us at beer {at} our-domain {.} com. We’ll post it up here on the Bruisin’ Blog. If you want to be a beerlanthropist on your travels, drop by the store, pick up a sticker, and leave your own mark!

What a week. RIP, Zima. Here’s a big send-off to the odd sticky malt beverage of the 90s. How long will its sister chelada last?

Students at Rice University in Texas are developing a beer that fends off cancer and heart-attacks with resveratrol, a antioxidant component in red wine that is said to have health benefits.

Some woman in Arizona gives advice on having a beer and cheese party/tasting.

Then, we read that someone is coming to visit Asheville this weekend (in a venue about a quarter of the size where “That One” spoke). And police laid charges on two students for the Bear Incident.

And, really, wouldn’t this be something? (It’s a joke, by the way.)