As we all get sucked-up into the nonsense of Election Week, there’s not much else going on. So, in order for you to get the full effect, this week’s round-up will be (mostly) the non-newsworthy items found that are somewhat beer related. Enjoy!

Dear Voters: Beer is a part of this election, sorta
We’d rather see craft brewers get rich.

Dear World: Italy makes beer
The New York Times has an article on Italian beers today, featuring a photo of Teo Musso of Le Baladin. Folks still seem to be surprised by this, even though Italian beers have been making their mark on the scene for the last few years at a pretty swift pace. (Bruisin’ Ales hosted the first Baladin dinner in the United States last year.) We really dig some of the ones we’ve got, especially Shangrila by Troll, which has curry and tandoori spices in it.

Dear Utah: We don’t understand
Who knew? St. George, Utah, bans alcohol sales on Election Day in an attempt (from how it reads) to have sober voters. Although the ban was suspended in a final vote, this shows the Overreaction Department is well-staffed out there. “State legislators, led by Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake City, pushed to have the ban removed last fall, saying the law had no rational basis and voters could simply vote after drinking at home.”

Dear Customers: Please don’t stab us
Thanks. (We don’t like screwdrivers either.)

Dear California: You still got the crazy
And he didn’t even have a pint glass? We’re still confused by the harmonica and the wetsuit. This guy was probably his roommate.

[Image: About.com]

We are SO flippin’ happy to get some of the limited collobarative brew, between Terrapin & Left Hand Brewing. Released today, specifically for Halloween, Terra-Rye’Zd is the perfect way to celebrate the holiday.

Terrapin Beer Co. & Our friends at Left Hand Brewing in Longmont, Co., present the Midnight Project a collaborative brewing series of one-time releases. Born late one night after a successful beer festival the original idea for a beer dinner in Colorado quickly grew into joint cross country brewing project. Just goes to show what a few pints at the Brickstore can become! Very Limited Availability…available in only six states! TN, NC, SC, GA, FL & CO

Other new things today:
GOUDEN CAROLUS Noël 2008*
GREAT DIVIDE Fresh Hop Pale Ale*
PISGAH India Pale Ale (growler)
SCHMALTZ He’Brew Jewbelation 12*
SIERRA NEVADA Celebration Ale*
TOMMYKNOCKER Cocoa Porter*

You’ve probably been here before. Our store is small. We need room for inventory! Not to mention it’s been awhile since we’ve done a straight-up Belgian tasting. So, next week we’re going to sample from our more obscure and fun Belgians that are wacky and off the wall. You won’t find these brews at many other places. Plus, 10% off the beers we’re tasting that day!

[FAIR WARNING: These are all Bruisin' beers.]

Abbaye d’Aulne Tripel Blonde
“This Tripel-style Blonde is a refermented in the bottle. Made with the fruit of passion and know-how, this beverage is characterized by a pallet of strong and subtle savours at the same time. This beer gained the 1st Prize of Wallonia Beers in 1998.” [9.0% abv]

Bãrbar Winterbok
Bãrbar Winter Bok is a rich, brown ale containing honey with fruity and spicy undertones. [8.0% abv]

La Binchoise Reserve
A personal favorite at Bruisin’ Ales, La Binchoise Reserve was the brewery’s Noël until it starting winning awards and they started making it year round. “Reserve is an artisanal Wallonian amber ale. It is a delicious, chestnut colored ale with quite a lot of bitterness, coffee and butterscotch notes; rich and warming.” [9.0% abv]

Vapeur Cochonne
Translating as pig vapor (the pig is the mascot of the brewery), Cochonne is “amber in color, strong, with a fruity nose and a delicate, soft palate; slightly hopped but correctly spiced  with roasted chicory, coriander, and sweet orange peel, among other ingredients. [9.0% abv]

Abbaye Des Rocs Grand Cru
Des Rocs Grand Cru is “a rich, complex fruit aroma of cherries, golden raisins, peaches, and assorted dried fruits, laced with honey and caramel. The taste is smooth with rich flavors reminiscent of cherries dipped in caramel, finishing with notes of chocolate, roasted almonds, and a hint of molasses.” [9.5% abv]

Brooklyn Black OPS:
Yes, Bruisin’ Ales will be getting some Brooklyn Black OPS—a 10.0% abv stout aged in Woodford Reserve barrels. It will be rare (1,000 cases total nationwide) and our wishful thinking hopes the beer gods will grace us with two to three cases (being generous). Beernews.org has a good write-up about it—including the hilarious back label goodness below.

“Brooklyn Black Ops does not exist. However, if it did exist, it would be a robust stout concocted by the Brooklyn brewing team under cover of secrecy and hidden from everyone else at the brewery. Supposedly Black Ops was aged for four months in bourbon barrels, bottled flat, and re-fermented with Champagne yeast, creating big chocolate and coffee flavors with a rich underpinning of vanilla-like oat notes. They say there are only 1,000 cases. We have no idea what they’re talking about.”

De Struise Black Albert
Yes, Bruisin’ Ales will be getting some Black Albert. Yes, it’s late. As the fifth-hand story goes, kegs were accidentally shipped to the States, rather than bottles on the first run, but De Struise is honoring the order and still shipping bottles, though a little later than planned. Personally, we’re happy to have this arrive “sometime during the holiday season.”

**As with all things rare, we post here on the blog as they arrive. We will not take advance orders or “holds” and you will not find them on the shelf, i.e. Theobroma. You must ask us for these beers specifically.**

 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.