Exportation Ale is a draft only offering from Sierra Nevada Brewing. Google yields a tapping event for this beer during Philly Beer Week 2011.
Teresa’s Cafe in Wayne, Pennsylvania will host a special tapping for Exportation June 9th, 5pm. Teresa provides Continue Reading →
Bill Covaleski of Victory Brewing mentioned on Twitter merely a picture that had him, with the brewers of Troeg’s, Nodding Head, Yards, & Stoudt’s. The quote “brotherly suds a brewin, ^BC”
The only allusion to what could be up is potential Continue Reading →
Terrapin & Left Hand Brewing are already talking about the 4 edition of their Midnight Project collaboration series. The series, started in 2008 – was purported to have been born out of a late night chat at the Brick Store Continue Reading →
Terrapin Brewing is releasing a very small batch kolsch, with the first kegs tapping today. The beer is Twilight Road Warrior Kolsch, brewed in honor of the Athen’s Twilight Criterium, a professional bike race held in downtown.
The first of the Continue Reading →
Sea Dog Brewing (Portland, ME) makes some pretty great fruit infused wheat beers. What as been missing (outside of Maine) has been a hop infused offering. (Hop infused is a job beer geeks.) Headed to shelves soon outside of Continue Reading →
I have to say this before I get into this post. Put your beer geekiness aside for a minute. Bring it back by the end of the article. We are going to be talking about ciders here.
I got a minute this week to sit down with Joe Heron, President of Crispin Ciders. 2011 marks a year of big expansions for the cider company, in both distribution and production. Ciders don’t always get the beer geek people excited. What Crispin is doing is a bit different from your average cider. They are game changers. We are talking the use ale yeasts, unique adjucts, and barrel aging. Yes, barrel aging.
Something I learned from Joe is that the art of cider is both easy and hard. You need a lot of apples. Much like beer brewing, the better ingredients the better the product. Apple & pears used in Crispin’s ciders come from Washington state. They have the most sophisticated cold storage in the United States. (Why you can get apples year round.) 6,000 gallons of juice come to Colfax, California at a time, they first started with 50 gallons. Ideally, cider is made from cider apples for their fermenting qualities, unfortunately they are rare & expensive. Culinary apples (for eating) are used the cider these offerings. Lots of Granny Smith.
Widmer Brothers is adding a rotating IPA series this year. The series – called “Rotator IPA Series” will feature experimental IPAs brewed by Widmer’s brewing team. The first beer in the series is X-114 & headed for shelves soon. 114 is drawn from the strain number of Citra hop used in this inaugural beer. Expect the second Rotator IPA by summer.
Details of X-144
Style: American IPA
Hop: Citra (114) (Dry & Aroma)
Malt: 2 Row Pale, Caramel 30L, Carapils
Taste Expectations: An aromatic IPA made from Citra hops that balance perfect proportions of big fruit and citrus flavor with hints of peppery spice, caramel malt sweetness and a bitter, but smooth finish.
Availability: 12oz/6pks. Draft. Limited Release.
6.2% ABV
Exportation Ale is a draft only offering from Sierra Nevada Brewing. Google yields a tapping event for this beer during Philly Beer Week 2011.
Teresa’s Cafe in Wayne, Pennsylvania will host a special tapping for Exportation June 9th, 5pm. Teresa provides this description:
If you liked ExPorter, imagine it aged in Dumol Pinot Noir Barrels at Russian River for nearly a year…
No word on how many barrels produced.
6.3% ABV
Bill Covaleski of Victory Brewing mentioned on Twitter merely a picture that had him, with the brewers of Troeg’s, Nodding Head, Yards, & Stoudt’s. The quote “brotherly suds a brewin, ^BC”
The only allusion to what could be up is potential a big collaboration for Philly Beer Week 2011.
I’m sure there’s more to the story…
Terrapin & Left Hand Brewing are already talking about the 4 edition of their Midnight Project collaboration series. The series, started in 2008 – was purported to have been born out of a late night chat at the Brick Store Pub in Decatur, GA. 3 beers have been made since that infamous chat – Terra -rye’Zd, Depth Charge, and Oxymoron.
Beer #4 will is tentatively scheduled to be brewed in July 2011. This edition is brewed at Terrapin this year, with peaches are being discussed as the ingredient of choice. Name? While not set in stone, “Fuzzy Wuzzy” is a potential.
Still all the the planning stage & subject to change. Midnight Sessions #4 is planned for a Fall, 2011 arrival.
Terrapin Brewing is releasing a very small batch kolsch, with the first kegs tapping today. The beer is Twilight Road Warrior Kolsch, brewed in honor of the Athen’s Twilight Criterium, a professional bike race held in downtown.
The first of the few kegs produced will tap today at Classic City Brewfest in Athens. The rest will be available at select places during the Twilight. Spike Buckowski, brewer at Terrapin tried to mimic the exact process and ingredients that make German style kolschs great. Proceeds from the beer sales benefit the Twilight Foundation which oversee’s the race.
There will be a special after hours tour & fundraising party at Terrapin benefiting the Twilight. For more info check out Online Athens.
Sea Dog Brewing (Portland, ME) makes some pretty great fruit infused wheat beers. What as been missing (outside of Maine) has been a hop infused offering. (Hop infused is a job beer geeks.) Headed to shelves soon outside of Maine is Seadog IPA.
Old East India Pale Ale has seen tap handles at the Sea Dog brewpubs for years. Initially, this IPA seems like a variation for Old East for the general public.
Arrival: Late Spring, 2011
6.2% AB
I have to say this before I get into this post. Put your beer geekiness aside for a minute. Bring it back by the end of the article. We are going to be talking about ciders here.
I got a minute this week to sit down with Joe Heron, President of Crispin Ciders. 2011 marks a year of big expansions for the cider company, in both distribution and production. Ciders don’t always get the beer geek people excited. What Crispin is doing is a bit different from your average cider. They are game changers. We are talking the use ale yeasts, unique adjucts, and barrel aging. Yes, barrel aging.
Something I learned from Joe is that the art of cider is both easy and hard. You need a lot of apples. Much like beer brewing, the better ingredients the better the product. Apple & pears used in Crispin’s ciders come from Washington state. They have the most sophisticated cold storage in the United States. (Why you can get apples year round.) 6,000 gallons of juice come to Colfax, California at a time, they first started with 50 gallons. Ideally, cider is made from cider apples for their fermenting qualities, unfortunately they are rare & expensive. Culinary apples (for eating) are used the cider these offerings. Lots of Granny Smith.
After the juice is blended, a white wine yeast is introduced to the juice and the process is of cidering is born. The yeasts could ferment to nearly 15% abv, but is suspended at 10%. In the U.S., cider can not be higher than 7%, so fermentation has to be closely monitored. Cider carbonation comes from tank fermentation and is typically 1/2 the gas level of beer.
Fox Barrel Ciders are quite unique, in that it’s cider with a little bit of craft brewing thrown in. For instance, Lansdown is brewed with an Irish dry stout yeast & molasses. The Saint uses maple syrup. Honey Crisp uses organic honey. Coming soon, ciders aged in whiskey barrels and red wine barrels. In this barrel aged series we will see The Jacket, a blend of 4 ciders including The Saint & Landsdown, wild fermentation apples & Gravenstein apples: aged in Jack Daniels barrels. Desert Noir will be aged in both Jack & red wine barrels.
By the end of spring, Fox Barrel will be in 30 states, with an annual output of 30,000 barrels. (Equating it to beer output.) Joe tossed out a few facts about cider in the states. Cider makes up about 1% of alcoholic sales in the US. Americans drink more non alcoholic beer than cider. In other countries such as the United Kingdom for example, cider consumption is in the neighborhood of 17%. American patriot John Adams mentioned in a few writings he started every day with a pint of cider.
Crispin Ciders literally meld ciders and some of the most exciting aspects of craft brewing. Try something different. <Crispin Ciders>
Widmer Brothers is adding a rotating IPA series this year. The series – called “Rotator IPA Series” will feature experimental IPAs brewed by Widmer’s brewing team. The first beer in the series is X-114 and headed for shelves soon. The 114 is drawn from the strain number of citra hop used in this inaugural beer. Expect the second Rotator IPA by summer.
Details of X-144
Style: American IPA
Hop: Citra (114) (Dry & Aroma)
Malt: 2 Row Pale, Caramel 30L, Carapils
Taste Expectations: An aromatic IPA made from Citra hops that balance perfect proportions of big fruit and citrus flavor with hints of peppery spice, caramel malt sweetness and a bitter, but smooth finish.
Availability: 12oz/6pks. Draft. Limited Release.
6.2% ABV
Full Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact:
Jamie Godfrey 503- 546-7892/[email protected]
WIDMER BROTHERS LAUNCHES ROTATOR IPA SERIES: X-114 IPA LEADS OFF; MORE BREWS TO COME
PORTLAND, Ore. — March 28, 2011 — Widmer Brothers Brewing launches its Rotator IPA series with the release of X-114 India Pale Ale. The first beer in the series of IPAs, X-114 was handcrafted by the Widmer Brothers’ brewing team. X-114 IPA is available in limited quantities on draught and in six-packs at select retailers nationwide.
“Our Rotator IPA series was born out of our brewing team’s desire to experiment with and enthusiasm for the IPA style of beer,” said Rob Widmer. “Our brewers are passionate about creating unique interpretations of beer styles and always finding ways to do things a bit differently. X-114 IPA is an aromatic IPA that originated from the experimental hop that we now call Citra. It’s a great, drinkable beer and is the perfect brew to kick off this series.”
About X-114 IPA
X-114 IPA is an aromatic IPA made from Citra hops that balance perfect proportions of big fruit and citrus flavor with hints of peppery spice, caramel malt sweetness and a bitter, but smooth finish.
Ingredients
Malts: 2-Row Pale, Caramel 30L, Carapils Hops: Bittering-Alchemy, Aroma — 114 (Citra) Dry Hopped and Aroma Hopped — 114 (Citra)
Profile
Original Gravity: 14.3 P Apparent Extract: 2.9P IBU: 50 Alcohol by Volume: 6.2 percent Color: 10 SRM
X-114 IPA has a suggested retail price of $8.99.
About the Rotator IPA Series
Widmer Brothers’ Rotator Series will feature an ever-changing offering of different IPA brews. The series was developed to showcase the Widmer Brothers brewers’ penchant for experimentation and to give lots of latitude for innovation within the broad IPA style. X-114 IPA is the first in the series to be released. Rotator Series beers will be available in limited quantities and are only available while supplies last. Widmer Brothers’ brewers will handcraft each IPA sequentially. The second beer of the series is expected to hit shelves sometime during the summer of 2011.About Widmer Brothers Brewing
What started as a dream for two ordinary brothers who just loved beer has now become a reality for two ordinary brothers who still just love beer. Kurt and Rob Widmer helped lead the Pacific Northwest craft beer movement in 1984 when, in their twenties, they dreamed of brewing American interpretations of authentic European-style beers. In 1986, Widmer Brothers Brewing introduced the first American-style Hefeweizen; today, the unfiltered cloudy beer is the company’s signature brew and one of the best selling wheat beers in the country. Based in Portland, Ore., the brewery currently brews a variety of beers including Drifter Pale Ale, Nelson Imperial IPA, Drop Top Amber Ale and Pitch Black IPA. For more information about Widmer Brothers Brewing, visit www.widmerbrothers.com.
