Topic Archives: Ginger

Posted in Great Lakes Brewing Company, Seasonal Return

Great Lakes Christmas Ale starts pouring again today

If you are a big fan of this beer, you already know it’s out there.

The seasonal release of Great Lakes Christmas Ale is always highly anticipated, as the beer has quite the cult following. This seasonal release is brewed with honey, ginger, and cinnamon, complementing the coming holidays rather well.

Do not open ‘til Christmas? Whoever coined that phrase obviously hasn’t tasted Christmas Ale’s fresh honey, cinnamon, and ginger flavors.

Great Lakes Christmas Ale is available starting in late October in 12-ounce bottles and draft.

Style:    (w/ Honey, Ginger, Cinnamon)
Hops: Mt. Hood, Cascade
Malts: Harrington 2-Row, Wheat, Crystal 45, Special Roast, Roasted Barley

Availability: 12oz Bottles, Draft.
Seasonality: Late October, Seasonally

7.5% ABV

Posted in The Bruery, Headlines

The Bruery 10 Lords A Leaping, featuring 10 different spices

The Bruery 10 Lords A Leaping

The Bruery 10 Lords a Leaping will be the 10th release in the ’12 Days of Christmas’ Series.

A decade ago, Placentia, California based The Bruery debuted the first in a line of 12 Beers brewed in honor of nearly 250-year-old “Twelve Days of Christmas” song. The first beer should be obvious – A Partridge in a Pear Tree, a Belgian strong dark brewed with spices.

Each year, the style has varied, from Two Turtle Doves to this year’s coming release – The Bruery 10 Lords a Leaping.

In lieu of 10 Lords, the brewery has 10 spices “leaping” into this seasonal release. The lineup includes coriander, orange peel, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, mace, anise, dried apples, and cloves.

Wassail is known for warmth and spices. The tenth verse of our Twelve Beers of Christmas™ saga goes leaps and bounds beyond a traditional winter warmer, drawing inspiration from the dark, spiced ales from Belgium and our love for experimental brewing in SoCal. 10 Lords-A-Leaping is a dark imperial wit ale featuring 10 different spices… which complement the spiced notes imparted from the yeast and prance upon the rich, dark-fruited character of the specialty malts.

The Bruery 10 Lords A Leaping will be a 750-milliliter release.

Style: Imperial WItbier (w/ Coriander, Orange peel, Cinnamon, Ginger. Nutmeg. Allspice. Mace. Star Anise. Dried Apples. Cloves)
Availability: 750ml Bottles
Debut: Late Fall 2017

10.5% ABV

Past Releases: 

9 Ladies Dancing – Tiramisu Inspired Strong Ale (2016)
8 Maids-A-Milking –
Imperial Milk Stout (2015)
7 Swans-A-Swimming
 – Belgian-style quadrupel (2014)
6 Geese-A-Laying – Belgian-style Dark Ale, with cape gooseberries (2013)
5 Golden Rings – Golden Ale, with cinnamon, allspice, ginger, pineapple (2012)
4 Calling Birds – Belgian-style Dark Ale, with gingerbread spices (2011)
3 French Hens – Belgian-style Dark Ale, partial French oak aged (2010)
2 Turtles Doves – Belgian-style Dark/Porter Blend, with pecans and cocoa nibs (2009)
A Partridge in a Pear Tree – Belgian-style dark ale with candi sugar (2008)

Posted in Hi Wire Brewing, Don't Miss This

Three different barrels & a little crazy: Hi-Wire Sour Pumpkin Ale

Hi-Wire Sour Pumpkin Ale

Hi-Wire Sour Pumpkin Ale is all over the flavor map. That’s a good thing. There’s a lot going on in this beer.

As fall creeps in, Asheville, North Carolina based Hi-Wire Brewing has released Sour Pumpkin Ale. Put the pumpkin spiced latte down because things are about to get a little weird.

After spending time wandering around local Rayburn Farm, Hi-Wire was struck with the idea of sourcing a beer from a single farm source. Sure, this is a pumpkin ale so you’re probably thinking something with pumpkins, cinnamon, and cloves. Make it taste like pie and ship it, right? Wrong.

Let’s talk pre-barrel. The base beer spent time in stainless steel tanks, with roasted delicata pumpkins, cinnamon basil, and blue ginger. Blue ginger is a Hawaiian variety known for its superior flavor. Cinnamon basil is also called Mexican spice basil. Methyl cinnamate found in the cultivar gives off flavors of the cinnamon spice when the leaves are crushed.

If this beer is already sounding unique, Hi-Wire isn’t done yet. After three months in stainless steel, the beer was split into rum, whiskey, and red wine barrels for six months, then blended back again. There’s nothing “basic” about this creation.

At this point, it is downright impossible to use something as simple as “pie” to describe Hi-Wire Sour Pumpkin Ale. It just doesn’t fit. Sour Pumpkin is aggressively sour as you dive in, melding into a light wash of ginger and cinnamon. As the beer warms, the blend of barrels are fighting for palate domination. Honestly, we think the rum won. This is no simple wild ale, with typical flavors. Everything about this beer is unpredictable in the best of ways. Speaking in the spirit of Hi-Wire’s hometown of Asheville, “Keep Fall Weird.”

Hi-Wire Sour Pumpkin Ale is a limited,  375-milliliter bottle release. Not for the faint of heart (or palate).

Style: American Wild/Sour Alehttps://beerstreetjournal.com/tag/american-wild-ales/ (w/ Pumpkin. Blue Ginger. Cinnamon Basil. Barrel Aged. Whiskey. Red Wine. Rum.)
Availability: 375ml Bottles
Debut: 9/2/17

8.6% ABV

PIC: Beer Street Journal

Posted in The Collective Brewing Project, Don't Miss This, New Releases

Texas brewery creates a Ramen Noodle infused ‘Cup O Beer’

Collective Brewing Project Cup O Beer

We’ve all been there. You’re down to your last dollar and you’re hungry. Then you see the price tag on the Cup O’ Noodles and all of a sudden you’re back to baller status. Last time we checked you can buy about 40 of them for a dollar.

Cup O’ Noodles, known by college students (and beer writers) the world over, is now officially in a beer thanks to Fort Worth, Texas based The Collective Brewing Project.

RELATED: Rogue brews stout with Sriracha Hot Sauce

The base beer is a tart/sour gose brewed with ginger, lime, lemongrass, and seaweed-cured sea salt. Let’s not forget the star of the show – 55 pounds of Ramen Noodles. (Which probably set the brewery back around $7.50.)

Collective Brewing Project Cup O’ Beer debuted in June, but the beer is still showing up at bars and events around Texas.

Style: Gose (w/ Lemongrass. Ginger. Lime. Sea Salt. Ramen Noodles.)
Availability: 500ml Bottles
Debut: June, 2017

?? ABV

Image: The Collective Brewing Project 

Posted in Monday Night Brewing, Coming Soon

Monday Night Fu Manbrew takes aim at cans, will sport “Indie” logo

Monday Night Fu ManBrew Cans

Our favorite year-round offering from Monday Night Brewing (Atlanta, GA) looks like it will be getting the aluminum treatment in the near future.

The beer we are talking about is Monday Night FuManBrew, a witbier that rocks just a “whisper” of ginger. Refreshing is the go-to word when describing the this beer we’ve come to love (since it’s 2012 debut of course).

As for the lovable folks at Monday Night, it took four years of test batches (dating back to their garage days) to perfect this beer. As good as it is, the love hasn’t been easy to take everywhere. No cans. Looks like that’s about to change.

This Belgian-style wit is an effervescent, easy-drinking wheat beer, brewed with Belgian yeast, German hops, and a whisper of ginger from the Far East. At 5.2%, it’s light enough to quench your thirst in the heat, but flavorful enough to keep you interested.

Monday Night FuManbrew is already available in 12 ounce bottles and draft, year-round. Something important to note as well – the can will sport the new “Independent Craft” label from the Brewers Association.

Style: Witbier (w/ Ginger)
Availability: 12oz Bottles, Draft. Current.
Debut (Cans): TBA

5.2% ABV

Posted in Avery Brewing, New Releases

Avery Ginger Sour is Botanicals & Barrels release #6

Avery Ginger Sour

Avery Ginger Sour is coming to the brewery’s Botanicals & Barrels Series this month.

AT A GLANCE: Avery Botanicals & Barrels Series

Hand picking the barrels and each herbal addition is what makes this Avery series one of the most diverse in their portfolio. The lineup features a Tangerine Quad (in bourbon), Apricot Sour (oak), Raspberry Sour, Vanilla Bean Stout (aged in bourbon), and newly released Coconut Porter.

The sixth release in the series is Avery Ginger Sour, an oak aged wild ale featuring fresh ginger root. The brewery sourced fresh ginger from Boulder, Colorado local, Pressery. Fresh ginger was pressed and added to the base beer within 24 hours.

Verdant fresh ginger is artfully rooted in radiant tartness, peaking in the unmistakable burst and bite of this bright barrel-aged sour ale.

Avery Ginger Sour will be a 22 ounce bottle and draft offering. With this release, there are six Botanicals & Barrels Series offerings available year-round.

Style: American Wild/Sour Ale (w/ Ginger. Oak Aged.)
Availability: 22oz Bottles, Draft.
Debut: 6/16/17

7.3% ABV

Posted in Sierra Nevada, Don't Miss This, Surly Brewing

Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Ginger Lager, with Surly Brewing

Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Ginger Lager can

In 2017, Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp is going international. One of America’s best breweries is pushing beyond their home borders, collaborating with folks across the world. As far as U.S. based collaborations, Minnesota’s Surly Brewing has been chosen to for 2017. Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Ginger Lager is the result.

If you haven’t had the pleasure of trying Beer Camp creations in the past, they truly are some very unique beers, brewed by some of the best brewers out there. A collaboration between Sierra Nevada and Surly conjures up images of outdoorsy types and metal enthusiasts in one room, with impossible to predict results.  What they came up with is a lager, which might not thrill everyone. That is, until the team adds spicy ginger, cayenne, and oak. You can forget forgettable lagers.

Absolute Beer Camp Highlight. 

This is far and away one of the best beers in the 2017 Beer Camp box. A crisp lager that leads with ginger, and finishes with a touch of cayenne and oak. If you thought lagers were boring, this one will have you rethinking it. Consider this an official nomination for this beer to go into full production. One lonely can is far from enough of this unique beer.

The abrasive attitude of Minnesota’s Surly Brewing Co. brings an aggressive yet refined approach to creating recipes. We came together to create this easy-drinking but complex ginger-infused lager. It’s brewed with hot ginger and a pinch of cayenne to spice up the heat and then dry hopped with an inclusion of oak for a touch of woody vanilla to round out the flavor.

Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Ginger Lager will be a 16 ounce can release, a part of the Beer Camp Across the World collection, debuting later this year.

Style: Lager (w/ Ginger, Cayenne. Oak Aged.)
Availability: 16oz Cans, Draft.
Debut: June, 2017

6.2% ABV