Beer News

RIP Odonata Brewing

Odonata Brewing (Sacramento, CA) is no more.  Brewmaster Peter Hoey has called it quits.

The brewery was founded in 2009, and quickly became known for farmhouse ales & quadruples.  The decision to close was of course financial.

[quote]”We were trying to bring Continue Reading →

More Bombers For Bell’s

Bell’s Brewing bombers exist. At least in very small batches. Last week we found out that Sparkling Ale has a run of 1,200 bottles. Now 2 more beers join Sparkling – Quinannan Falls Special Lager Beer, Continue Reading →

Brewdog Starts A Revolution

James Watt & Martin Dickie, founders of Brewdog Brewing have launched a new website. This one though is not for their beer, but a way to rally beer drinkers of the United Kingdom against “lies and propaganda that circulate through beer advertising and marketing.” It’s no secret that Brewdog has no love for big beer. BeerLeaks.org’s sole purpose is to expose dispel the smoke & mirrors around the UK beer scene. “A new voice for craft beer” as the mission statement suggests:

Bell’s 750ml Bombers Exist

Bell’s Brewing’s 750 ml bombers exist.  Well, at least 1,200 of them.  A label has recently surfaced disclosing that there are just a very few Sparkling Ale bombers.  Sparkling is a specialty release by the brewery – basically on a Continue Reading →

Shark Pants! Ooh Ha Ha

3 Floyds Brewing & De Struise from (Ostveleteren, Belgium) got together recently and brewed a big Belgian Style imperial IPA.  Shark Pants! Is the name, brewed in honor of Rich Sheppard an employee of 3 Floyds that sadly passed away Continue Reading →

Posted in Beer News, Odonata Brewing

RIP Odonata Brewing

Odonata Brewing (Sacramento, CA) is no more.  Brewmaster Peter Hoey has called it quits.

The brewery was founded in 2009, and quickly became known for farmhouse ales & quadruples.  The decision to close was of course financial.

[quote]”We were trying to bring a premium product to market at an affordable price but the margins weren’t there to support that business model,” said Hoey. “It got to the point where we needed to brew another batch to supply the market and I had to make call (to cease operations).”
[/quote]

Hoey will be advising other local Sacramento breweries as they get started.  There are potential 5 in the area to open their doors soon.  Currently, there is a 2 month remaining supply of Odonata beers on shelves in the California area.  <SacramentoBee>

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, Bell's Brewing

More Bombers For Bell’s

Bell’s Brewing bombers exist. At least in very small batches. Last week we found out that Sparkling Ale has a run of 1,200 bottles. Now 2 more beers join Sparkling – Quinannan Falls Special Lager Beer, and Golden Rye Beer.

Both of these beers are seem relatively new – (less than 20 ratings on BA) and draft only.  Like Sparkling Ale, these 2 beers are part of a 1,200 bottling run from February, 2011.  Golden Rye is of course a Rye Beer, 6.5% ABV.  A little more info exists on Quinannan.

About Quinannan:
Born in a dream, Quinannan Falls Special Lager BeerQuinannan Falls Special Lager Beerrefers to a mythical place in the boreal north. While the waterfall may exist solely in Larry Bell’s imagination, the beer he remembered drinking there is now quite real. Quinannan Falls possesses the crisp, dry bitterness you’d expect from a German pilsner, but the use of highly aromatic hops from the Pacific Northwest in both the kettle & dry-hop evokes the fragrant pine forests that inspired this beer.

Style: American Pale Lager

6.5% ABV

Where? What? When?  Still waiting on the news.  But 1,200 bottles doesn’t go very far. [Speculation] Sounds like these are for a special event or perhaps Savor?

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, Brewdog

Brewdog Starts A Revolution


James Watt & Martin Dickie, founders of Brewdog Brewing have launched a new website. This one though is not for their beer, but a way to rally beer drinkers of the United Kingdom against “lies and propaganda that circulate through beer advertising and marketing.” It’s no secret that Brewdog has no love for big beer. BeerLeaks.org’s sole purpose is to expose dispel the smoke & mirrors around the UK beer scene. “A new voice for craft beer” as the mission statement suggests:

BeerLeaks is the voice of the craft beer revolution.

  1. No more will mainstream brands be able to lie to us about their beer
  2. No more will our perceptions of beer be skewed by marketing
  3. No more will we settle for limp, tasteless, fizzy, yellow lager
  4. No more will we stay silent

If you have a myth propagated by mainstream breweries that you can smash, submit your knowledge anonymously to BeerLeaks.org now.

Before the site launched today, a teaser video was on the home page. It has now been moved to the manifesto portion of the website – and pretty much sums up the goal of this revolution.  <BeerLeaks.org>

In case you missed it, Breckenridge Brewing just released a few videos recently dispelling some U.S. based myths in beer advertising.  They are HERE

Accept Mainstream from BrewDog on Vimeo.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, Bell's Brewing

Bell’s 750ml Bombers Exist

Bell’s Brewing’s 750 ml bombers exist.  Well, at least 1,200 of them.  A label has recently surfaced disclosing that there are just a very few Sparkling Ale bombers.  Sparkling is a specialty release by the brewery – basically on a whim.   It’s been well over a year since this tripel has made an appearance.

Sparkling Ale combines notes of cloves, honey and dried fruits from a blend of two Abbey-style yeast strains with citrusy hops from the Pacific Northwest to offer a heady, fragrant mix.

The label mentions the these specialty 750’s are individually numbered, 1-1,200. Bottled February, 2011. Larry Bell hasn’t disclosed what these bottles are for.  I’m sure we’ll find out soon.

9% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in 21st Amendment Brewing, Beer News, Cool Stuff

Want More Bitter American? Perhaps All The Time?

21st Amendment Brewing recently released Bitter American, a session style pale ale.  It is incredibly tasty, easy drinking and the best part – low in alcohol.  Bitter American is all but gone from shelves.

Furthermore, a lot of drinkers seem to want Bitter to be a year round beer.  A beer is evolving in the U.S. the alcohol in beer seems to be getting higher and higher.  Not complaining, but for some (me included) it’s great to find a beer with great flavor that is lower in alcohol.  21A all but admitted that they are making plans to make Bitter American year round – as evidenced by this tweet.

In other just cool stuff, check out the new 21A Can displays for retail stores @21apdxguru>

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, Stone Brewing Co.

Quingenti Millilitre Should Be Latin For “Rare”


Stone Brewing (Escondido, CA) announced they are doing some barrel aging.  This isn’t entirely new, but never in bottles and never formally introduced to the public.  Even as the beer geek starts salivating over this news, these won’t be easy to find by any stretch of the imagination.

Here’s the rub: There will be very few of these bottles available, and irregularly at that. At least for the foreseeable future. Space is our biggest constraint, and filling up our brewery with barrels just isn’t an option. So if you can’t get these, we’re sorry, we really are. We’ll try to make more, and if you can make it to one of our events, there’s a chance you’ll get to try them on draft. But that’s the best we can do…for now.

Stone is calling the series the “Quingenti Millilitre” (latin for 500 milliliters).  The brewery has a mix of bourbon and wine barrels in it’s arsenal, including some 184 Scotch whiskey barrels.  Name dropping some residents in these barrels include the soon to be released editions of Imperial Russian Stout, and BELGO Anise Imperial Russian.  There’s even a collaboration sitting in bourbon right now (as seen at left) done with Maui Brewing.  672 bottles of Ken Schmidt / Maui / Stone Kona Coffee Macadamia Coconut Porter Aged in Bourbon Barrels is slated for a brewery only release in July.

Quingenti Millilitre will feature more than just barrel aging. Stone plans some double dry hopped editions of some beers too.  500 ml bottles.  Corked, caged & rare.  All to be announced in due time.  <StoneBlog>

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in 3 Floyds Brewing, Beer News, Coming Soon

Shark Pants! Ooh Ha Ha

3 Floyds Brewing & De Struise from (Ostveleteren, Belgium) got together recently and brewed a big Belgian Style imperial IPA.  Shark Pants! Is the name, brewed in honor of Rich Sheppard an employee of 3 Floyds that sadly passed away in 2001.

3 Floyds Chats About:
Shark Pants! -This beer is the combined effort of Urbain from De Struise Brouwers and Three Floyds Brewing Co.  On the 3rd of May Urbain came to our Indiana brewery and we created an 8.7% abv ale using the Struise house yeast with some medium crystal malts and a portion of oats at a calculated 260 IBUs.  Urbain will brew the same beer at Struise when the Three Floyds crew travels to Belgium at the end of this month.  Although it was a great time and a honor to brew with Urbain, there is a somber note to this beer.  Our friend and employee Rich Sheppard passed away on April 11, 2011.  This beer is made to honor his memory with a portion of the proceeds going to his family. Always remember, live a Rich life.

Pic Via <3FloydsBlog>

by Reid Ramsay