RateBeer released its ‘Best of’ results for the past year. Here are the winners by category announced yesterday:
Best Brewery in the World: Three Floyds Brewing
Best Beer in the World: Närke Kaggen Stormaktsporter
(Best Beer in the USA): Three Floyds Dark Lord
Best Beer Bar in the World: Kulminator (Belgium)
(San Diego, CA) – Lee Chase probably has a lot more to do with those five beers that were named in the Beer Advocate Top 25 than he’d ever take credit for . . . but since his decade-long tenure as Head Brewer at Stone Brewing, he has definitely left his mark on the brewing world one way or another. He has consulted with numerous breweries in the country including Alesmith and Port Brewing, and upcoming startups like Fullsteam and Lonerider Brewing. He’s also left an impact in India, Norway, and other parts of the world. Now, closer to home, he finally has his own project, along with his wife, Jennifer, Jeff Motch and Clea Hantman:
a brewpub and pizza place opening in Normal Heights tonight.
[1/30 Update: The beer will be released on March 1. "Our upcoming new canned good is a small-batch version of the beer that made Pilsen, Czechoslovakia famous. Mama’s is made with hearty amounts of pale malt, German specialty malts, and a blend of traditional (Saaz) and 21st century Bavarian hops. Our first canned lager, it’s also fermented at cool temperatures with a German yeast. This tasteful reality Czech is the perfect antidote for the watered-down versions of pilsner clogging America’s shelves. And Mama’s gentle hopping (about 35 IBUs) and low ABV (just 5.3%) mean we’re finally honoring consumer requests for a delicious but less-challenging beer. (Hey, we like a good low-dose session beer, too.) Look for our Gold Metal Winner on US shelves in March. Sadly, the Feds rejected our “Take Two and Call Us in the Morning” line on the can."]
(Pleasantville, NY) – I first reported on
in early June of last year. The beer boards went buzzing but the barrels had their own plans. There were rumors that it would potentially arrive in the fall but as fate would have it, the beer, translated in English as ‘Red and Brown,’ will finally be ready on Valentines Day.
More information (including beer description) from Owner, Scott Vaccaro’s, email attached below:
[1/30 Update: From Devlin... "about the tasting (2/25 release date): 5-7 pm at Bottleworks is bottled versions only. The draft versions will be at Brouwer's at 8."]
(Seattle, WA) – Hair of the Dog Brewing will release a beer celebrating
as early as next month though bottles may come later. ‘Bottleworks X’ aka ‘
‘ honors the two Matts of Brouwers and Bottleworks fame in Seattle, Washington and their contributions to the local craft beer scene over the last decade. The base beer is Hair of the Dog Adam and will have aged in bourbon and 33-year old Apple Eau de Vie barrels for approximately one year by the time it is released.
(see release info at end of article)
This edition of Beer Notes touches on Russian River, The Bruery, Draft Magazine’s top 25, and a few other things. Enjoy!
Fresh from the Russian River blog this morning: “Consecration will be released on February 2nd on draught and in 750ml bottles at our pub and limited distribution in No. California. Starting that week, we will also distribute bottles and kegs to Southern California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and Philadelphia. [...]”
“Pliny the Younger will also be released on February 2nd on draft only. Continue reading
(Munster, IN) – The collaboration thing really went into full swing last year and that trend is continuing, especially with these two brewers. Three Floyds Brewing, who previously teamed up with Mikkeller on two beers, joined up with Dogfish Head, who is working on another beer with the Beer Advocate duo, to produce a beer that will come out this April called
Head Brewer, Tomme Arthur, wrote up another blog post for The Lost Abbey this weekend, noting the tentative beer schedule for the first part of 2009. Here is the lowdown:
January – Lost Abbey Red Poppy
(^more info in the newly-updated Craft Beer Press Releases)
February – Angels Share Brandy Barrel
“[...] we’ll be packaging almost 45 oak barrels worth of beer. This will Continue reading
Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey To Release Red Poppy Ale
2009 Limited Edition Barrel-aged Flanders-Style Red Ale Available Saturday, January 31
SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey will issue the 2009 release of
on January 31, 2009. A Flanders-style red ale made with sour cherries and aged in French Oak barrels for one year, the 375 case limited edition release will only be available directly from the brewery.
Slipknot Kicks off our 2009 Brewmaster Reserve line up
Attention hop lovers – Slipknot Imperial IPA is back. This annual favorite and gold medal winner at the 2008 World Beer Championship will be available January to mid March. As the name implies, every aspect of this American style IPA is amplified – from the up-front hop aroma and bitterness to the big malt body. (ABV: 7.8% IBUs: 80)
is part of our rotating selection of Brewmaster Reserve Beers. Every ten weeks we come out with a different beer that showcases the brewer’s art. We began the program back in 1998 as a way of celebrating our independence and creativity.
Slipknot will be available in 22oz bottles and on draught in specialty beer stores and pubs throughout the Pacific Northwest. In March, Full Sail will follow-up Slipknot with Full Sail Imperial Porter. New beers in Full Sail’s 2009 Brewmaster Reserve line-up include Keelhauler Scottish Ale, due out in Mid-March, and Grandsun of Spot IPA, due out in June.
Catch the original Lucky Bucket Pre-Prohibition lager story.
——————————————————————
LUCKY BUCKET BREWING COMPANY, NEBRASKA’S NEWEST CRAFT BREWERY,
LAUCHES LUCKY BUCKET ‘PREPROHIBITION’ LAGER
Omaha, Nebraska – 1/14/2009.
tapped its first ever keg at a ceremony held at the Dundee Dell at 51st and Underwood on Wednesday, January 14th. “The turnout and response of our first beer was overwhelmingly positive”, said company Co‐President Zac Triemert, former Upstream Brewing Company Head Brewer. “It was exciting to see Continue reading
[1/27 Update: Appears to be sold out :/ ] Definitely an odd site to find such highly sought-after beers but Central Coast Gift Baskets has a few Firestone Walker products people may be interested in including Firestone Eleven and Twelve. Hat tip to jkrenner for the find.
(Lahaina, Maui, HI) – Maui Brewing Co. (MBC) is proud to announce another phase of expansion. Commencement of the work on this phase comes less than two years from the opening of MBC’s second location, the production brewery. Adjacent to that facility on Honoapiilani Highway in Lahainatown, a tasting room and retail logo and beer shop is currently under construction. To make room for more tanks to keep the beer flowing, the canning operation will be relocated to the adjoining space.
(Shiner, TX) – More news from the great state of Texas. Spoetzel Brewery will soon release another new beer on the heels of Shiner 100 Commemorator with a representative from Specs hinting that it could come in late February.
is a re-release of one Spoetzel appears to have released nearly a decade ago, old enough that you will see random references in a Google search though no RateBeer or Beer Advocate beer profiles exist.
(Farmville, NC) – Passing along this note from one of the Sales Reps for The Duck-Rabbit Brewery: “We will be releasing our third annual Farmville Style Barleywine in 12 oz bottles in Georgia on Friday Jan 23.
The Duck-Rabbit Barleywine is the hoppiest of all the Duck-Rabbit Continue reading
(Conroe, TX) – Southern Star Brewing is expected to release Bombshell Blonde in 12 oz. six-packs in February according to Founder and President, Dave Fougeron. The brewery already has its Pine Belt Pale Ale in 16 oz. cans on shelves and there is a rumor floating that Buried Hatchet Imperial Stout may be released (in 16 oz. can four-packs) as early as May. All three and a Rauchbier are currently on tap at the brewery.
The beer with a killer label, Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale is now available at South Bay Drugs along with organic brews, Eel River Ravens Eye Imperial Stout and Eel River Triple Exultation Ale. Stone’s new beer is a return of Stone 11th Anniversary, a hoppy American Strong Ale.
(Denver, CO) – Great Divide Brewing will add at least two more beers this year though it is still unknown whether these will be year-round additions.
infuses coffee into its top 100-ranked Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout. The result is a stout that the brewery is billing as a breakfast beer.
(Foothills, NC) – For those that hate the ‘hype’ beers, this is one of those beers so turn away! Ranked #52 on Beer Advocate and #92 on RateBeer, you guys agree that
is one of the best imperial stouts out there. The beer is released in 2-3 weeks so if anyone is planning to make a trip, here are the details via Cardsfan1 at Beerinator:
“Thanks for your interest in Sexual Chocolate Weekend 2009! Foothills Brewing would like to invite all fans of beer–from the casual to the extremely dedicated–to celebrate the release of Sexual Chocolate 2009 on Continue reading
(Black Mountain, NC) – Pisgah Brewing looks to debut its Pale Ale in bombers soon according to a blog post on the brewery’s new website earlier this month. Julie from Bruisin’ Ales also hints that there will be a batch of Valdez coming up. Not sure what ‘batch’ amounts to in this case but it is an A-rated stout on Beer Advocate so it is worth keeping an eye on. Baptista is apparently on tap now as well.
Others local beers available right now would include Highland Black Mountain Bitter, Asheville Old School Pale, Shiva IPA, and Ninja Porter, as well as the debut of some Wedge Brewing 1L flip-top bottles.