Monthly Archives: January 2009

Beer notes: Beer Advocate DFH Beer Name Vote, Coffee Bender cans arrive

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surlyMore tidbits from around the beer world…

Beer Advocate has picked the top 10 beer names for the upcoming Dogfish Head collaborative beer and you can now vote for a winner on the website. The beer name that is in the lead by a landslide right now is, “Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right BA Select.” Confused? Check out this Wikipedia entry which explains that this is a play on an old cheatcode for a video game called, Contra. The code gained a cult following to the point where an indie rock band named themselves after it.

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Upland releases Helios this coming March

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We Finally Named Our Pale Ale! Same exceptional recipe as our 2003 Great American Beer Festival Silver Medal Winner, in some rad new packaging. Helios, Greek god of the sun, graces our new label, six pack, and tap handle. Enjoy this crisp, grassy Pale Ale in the summer or winter, heck whenever the sun is shining.

Brewed with the finest Midwestern malts, citrusy American hops, Upland house yeast blend, pure Bloomington water and a dash of sunshine. Cheers to the Unconquerable Sun God! Available in six pack bottles and draught in early March.

Pike Brewing releases Old Bawdy Barleywine

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Pike Brewing logoFor Immediate Release

The Pike Brewing Company Kicks Off their 20th Anniversary Year with the release of Old Bawdy Barley Wine 2008 and a Vertical Tasting of Archived Vintages

Seattle, Washington, January 14, 2009. Old Bawdy Barley Wine is Pike’s most extreme beer. With a high, starting gravity of 1.096 Old Bawdy has 10% alcohol by volume. The color, like a shiny new penny has amber highlights and a nose that is floral and sensual, like a bouquet of freshly picked flowers. Old Bawdy was brewed by Head Brewer Drew Cluley, second Brewer Dean Mochizuki and the Pike team of brewers and brewsters. The grist blend is made with enormous quantities of the finest biscuity malts. Pike Old Bawdy 2008 is sweet and earthy with the flavor of Continue reading →

New arrivals: Hopslam, Boulevard Imperial Stout, and Biere de Mars

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bells-hopslamboulevard-imperial-stout-thumb-100-081Need to catch up here…

Archer Liquors got in a shipment of Bells Hopslam. Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA should be in by the end of the month, followed by Bigfoot 2009.

Hopslam should arrive at The Wine and Cheese Place in St. Louis next week and Boulevard Imperial Stout will arrive tomorrow (Monday). Watch Paul’s blog as he should also have in a bunch of stuff from the Shelton Brothers. The shipment should include Amager Bryghus, Dieu du Ciel, Saint Somewhere, and Nils Oscar Coffee Porter.

Bruisin’ Ales has Ommegang Biere de Mars.

Finally, Liquid Solutions has a few auctions running that will end on Monday night 7pm pacific time.

What is #TTL? Twitter Taste Live takes over (and why beer author doesnt like it)

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ttl

A pretty cool thing happened tonight. A group of twenty or so people, led by Jay Brooks of The Brookston Beer Bulletin as the host, got together in a chat room online and, using Twitter, tasted some Trappist beers from Westmalle and Chimay. It’s called Twitter Taste Live, a site that hosts online wine and beer tastings. (So if you were on Twitter tonight and saw a flood of #TTLs in your stream, this explains it as those twenty peoples’ tweets automatically sent that #TTL code in messages to their followers).

It begs the question, “Why haven’t we done this before?” Chat room technology has been available forever. If millions have gone online and played the same computer games together, I am baffled as to why it wasn’t until 2009 that twenty people got together and tried the same beer. That said, not everyone, including one beer author is a fan.

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TTB flags two Obama beers as Inauguration Day approaches

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flossmoor-station-obamabrau

[Update: Sixpoint Hop Obama will be on tap on Inauguration Day.]

A law exists that disallows a business from using alcohol (and presumably other products) to endorse a Presidential/public figure as it actually implies the opposite. Two beers donning the image of Barack Obama on the bottle recently failed to pass the sniff test with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (though the TTB apparently doesn’t care if it involves dead presidents). Nevertheless, those breweries have made “modifications” to their plans.

The newest case involves Flossmoor Station in Obama’s own state of Illinois. The brewery designed a label for a brown ale called

Obama Brau

earlier this month. Unfortunately, the TTB rejected it this past week.

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First new Chicago brewery in over six years set to launch

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metrobloglogodynamo-copper

(Chicago, IL) – One month ago, Doug Hurst posted on Twitter that he was brewing the first batch of beer at his new digs. He being a twenty-year homebrewer and those digs being a new brewery, Metropolitan Brewing, located on the north side of Chicago. Great Lakes Brewing News’ Jeff Sparrow says its “Illinois’ first new packaging brewery in over twelve years since Two Brothers opened in 1996.”

But you won’t find any imperial stouts or double IPAs there; Metropolitan is going for something different. The beers will build off of a foundation of Continue reading →

Lonerider Brewing launches in Chapel Hill

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lonerider

(Raleigh, NC) – North Carolina’s youngest brewery officially launches next week. Raleigh, NC-based Lonerider Brewing will hold its first event next Tuesday, Jan. 20 at Brixx in Chapel Hill introducing its Shotgun Betty Hefeweizen. Through distributors, Harris Inc. (Durham) and Harris Wholesale (Raleigh), CEO, Sumit Vohra expects the beers to be available at The Pit and Ruckus Pizza, among others at the start.

This is the second post in our guest blog series recognizing regional beer writers. Thomas Vincent is a BJCP Judge, and runs his own homebrewing operation and beer blog, both under the name of Geistbear Brewing. Late last month, Vincent paid a visit to Lonerider Brewing and got the firsthand scoop on this new brewery.

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Allagash to release Confluence this spring

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allagash-confluence

[3/7 Update: Slated for February but clearly delayed as it is not yet available. Probably a March release now?]

(Portland, ME) – I caught up with Jason Perkins from Allagash last week to get clarity on a few rumors. Perkins traveled to Belgium last year to help brew last year’s De Proef Signature Series release, Les Deux Brasseurs.

Allagash Confluence

It is brewed with our house primary strain and our proprietary brett strain. The two are pitched at primary and ferment together. We had to work Continue reading →

45 Breweries on Twitter: The Full List

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surlybrewing-tweet

This is Part II. Catch Part I: Why Breweries Should Join Twitter.

Here is the full list of breweries I am following on my Beerpulse twitter account (also follow @beersage).  The easiest way for you to follow these breweries is to click the first link, click on who I am following, and then click all of the breweries’ ‘follow’ links (much easier than clicking on 45 hyperlinks here).  And I can’t make those pics in the prior post link to the Twitter pages (believe it or not).  Without further ado…

Twitter Username/Brewery – Location/State Abbrev.

21st Amendment – San Francisco, CA
Bells Beer – MI
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45 Breweries on Twitter and why 1400 more should join

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The full list is now posted!

What do 45 breweries have in common?  And why should 1400 more U.S. breweries (and others around the world) should consider following their lead?  Only one way to find out.

Grab some pretzels and a beer because this one’s got a lot of info in it.  Click below.

[P.S. any breweries that are interested that want to hire me as their twitter marketer/consultant after this, send me a note! :P ]

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Next up in Tyranena’s Brewers Gone Wild! Series

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tyranena-paradise-by-the-dash-board-lights

[2/14 Update: Now in stores in Wisconsin!]

(Lake Mills, WI) – Tyranena Brewing will release its next beer in the Brewers Gone Wild! Series in late January or early February. It will be a Cherry Porter, somewhat ‘imperial’ at its projected 7.5-8% ABV.

Paradise by the Dashboard Lights takes its name from a Meatloaf song. The beer is, in part, inspired by Fitgers Cherry Stout, which appeared at the Autumn Brew Review. Credit to jj21 at The Beer Spot forums for posting the tip last Thursday.

Nogne-O tips hat to old Norwegian legend

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(Grimstad (Rygene), NORWAY) – Kjetil Jikiun of Nogne-O recently wrote about a new beer that he brewed in honor of a Norwegian legend that says that the sun turns on December 21, the shortest day of the year. Of course, the rest of the world would argue with the Norwegians that the sun doesn’t turn at all. But I regress…here are Jikiun’s brief notes about the beer,

Sunturnbrew

from his brewing session on the day of “sunturn.”

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Otter Creek releases three new beers

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otter-creek-mud-bockFor Immediate Release:

(January 9, 2009)

Otter Creek partners with Bolton Valley, Bromley, Jay Peak and Mad River Glen for “Ski Midweek Free” deal

Otter Creek Brewing has partnered with Bolton Valley, Bromley, Jay Peak and Mad River Glen ski areas to offer consumers the chance to ski midweek for free (when your buddy pays, that is). The promotion is valid January 1 through March 31, Monday through Friday, with the exception of President’s Week and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. To take advantage of this “buy one, get one free” deal on lift tickets, look for Otter Creek “Ski for Free” coupons in a store near you. Must be 21 or older. Visit ottercreekbrewing.com for more information.

Wolaver’s Pat Leavy’s All-American

Wolaver’s Organic Ales started shipping their newest special release. “Pat Leavy’s All-American,” brewed with Oregon-grown organic hops and Continue reading →

Didn’t expect this one: is Brooklyn Black Ops online?

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brooklyn-black-ops-thumb-065-100New York-based Bierkraft, at some point, opened up an online store. THIS WILL BE A TREND IN 2009. Anyway, I was shocked to see that Brooklyn Black Ops listed as for sale online seeing as how each store seems to get only a case. No guarantees that you will actually be delivered the beer if it has sold out but I was able to go through the checkout process up to submitting the order.

Try your luck. They ship to all states where it is legal -> Brooklyn Black Ops for sale.

I punched in my ‘illegal’ zip code and a shipping price came up so even if you are in a ‘bad’ state, try it.

Please post a comment as to whether or not you are able to buy the beer if you try it!

It’s Saturday: Pick up some Hopslam or Nugget Nectar or Double Trouble

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Word spread yesterday that both Bells Hopslam and Founders Double Trouble are available in Michigan. And then word dropped today that Troegs Nugget Nectar is now available in Pennsylvania. They are just beginning to filter out to stores though so be patient and keep your eyes peeled. Neverthless, more hoppiness in a weekend than I can remember and what a way to cap off what was a huge week in beer!

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New Belgium assists Bottleworks on 10th Anniversary sour beer

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(Seattle, WA / Fort Collins, CO) – Every year, Bottleworks releases an Anniversary brew with the help of a well-known U.S. craft brewery. For example, last year’s Deviation, arguably one of the beers of the year, featured the work of Russian River’s Vinnie Cilurzo. For Bottleworks 10th Anniversary, Bottleworks decided to work with New Belgium Brewing out of Colorado. The beer was blended in October and the result was released on tap for the first time just last night.

So how did

Bottleworks 10th Anniversary Wild Ale

come together?

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Friday Surprise: Southern Tier to release Oak Aged Unearthly

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southern-tier-oak-aged-unearthly-ipa

(Lakewood, NY) – The Southern Tier Brewing team haven’t put out enough new beers in the past couple years to satisfy the craft beer drinkers have they? Wrong, but that hasn’t stopped them from brewing up another big beer for us. Southern Tier is set to release Oak Aged Unearthly IPA at the beginning of March according to Head Brewer, Paul Cain. Oh, and a little info on Cuvee #2…

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