We really thought this was going to be a slow week, but turns out that there are a few new things after all.

DUCK RABBIT Rabid Duck*
GREEN FLASH Hop Head Red*
PLANK Bavarian Hefe-weizen

Hopheads, Sierra Nevada went the extra mile for you—quite literally—with their newest release, Southern Hemisphere Harvest. Seems they just weren’t happy with one fall hop harvest per year, so they traveled to New Zealand in the Southern Hemisphere and got a crop o’ hops. This is the newest addition to their Harvest Ale “family.” We’ve been to New Zealand. It’s exceptionally green there. We imagine these hops have to be fantastic. What a great idea.

Read the full press release here.

“Our newest addition to our Harvest family is Southern Hemisphere Harvest. This is the first time we know of that an American brewer has put out a beer with fresh-picked hops from the southern hemisphere. The inaugural ale will debut in late April and will feature fresh Pacific Hallertau, New Zealand Motueka and New Zealand Southern Cross hops, all from New Zealand.

Like our Celebration Ale, the fresh hops in this beer are dried right after being picked then shipped immediately to Chico for brewing so that they retain their peak aromatics and flavors. To ensure the freshest hops possible, we went to the added expense of flying these hops from New Zealand to Chico so we could brew with them the week after they were picked.”

[Images: Sierra Nevada / newzealand.com]

Happy May Day and a warm welcome to Highland Shining Rock Lager! We’re kicking off the new seasonal at the tasting today. See you there!

Other things, new and back in stock, arriving today are:

FULLER’S E.S.B. (back)
FULLER’S London Porter (back)
FULLER’S London Pride  (back)
FULLER’S Vintage Ale  (new!)
GÖSSER Dark (new!)
HIGHLAND BREWING Shining Rock Lager* (seasonal)
ROGUE Imperial Red (new!)
SCHNEIDER Brooklyner Hopfen Weisse* (limited!)
VICTORY Whirlwind Wit* (seasonal)
WEYERBACHER Blanche* (seasonal)

This is the time to get both the Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen Weisse and Schneider-Brooklyner Hopfen Weisse. Try them side-by-side and compare the basic recipe with American and German hops, respectively.

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

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]