Coming Soon

Wicked Weed Dark Arts 2016: Rum aged

Wicked Weed Dark Arts, an American wild, barrel aged, imperial stout, returns again in October. This monstrous beer is an annual release, and 2016 marks just the third appearance.

Wicked Weed Dark Arts is brewed right up to the North Carolina alcohol cap of 15%. The Continue Reading →

Highland Thunderstruck Coffee Porter 2016 release

Highland Thunderstruck Coffee Porter releases again this year, appearing on draft and in their tasting room on October 14th, 2016. Named for the Southern Appalachian landscape, Highland Thunderstruck Coffee Porter features fair trade/organic coffee from Dynamite Roasting Company.

This year’s version will feature both Continue Reading →

NoDa Sticky When Wet, a new fresh hopped beer

NoDa Sticky When Wet, the Charlotte, North Carolina based brewery’s fresh/wet hop beer is headed for cans.

Head brewer Chad Henderson spearheaded this hoppy project, going from hop field to brew 24 hours. Henderson chose two ridiculously popular hops for NoDa Continue Reading →

Posted in NoDa Brewing, Coming Soon

NoDa Rye Z’D, canned celebrating 5 years

NoDa Rye Z’D is returning Noda Brewing’s lineup this month, in cans for the first time.

The seasonal imperial IPA has been featured on draft in the past. A rye heavy, 7-hop India pale ale that is hard to put down, and hard to forget. The Charlotte, North Carolina based brewery crosses the 5 year mark this month and is celebrating by releasing a few new cans.

A solid malt backbone with a hefty amount of rye to further the grain bill, NoDaRyeZ’d has a 7-hop blend that accentuates the spiciness of the rye and gives the beer an American IPA flavor, aroma and substantial bitterness.

NoDa Rye Z’D will be available in 16 ounce cans right after the release of NoDa Monstro, on Monday, October 24th.

Style: Rye Beer/Imperial IPA
Availability: 16oz Cans, Draft. Taproom release.
Debut: 10/24/16

8.65% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Coming Soon, Don't Miss This, NoDa Brewing

NoDa Monstro is back after two years, now in cans

NoDa Monstro, the Charlotte, North Carolina’s barrel-aged imperial stout, will return once again. This time in cans.

The first release of NoDa Monstro was in 2014. The stout was aged in Pappy van Winkle barrels. In 2016, the barrel of choice is Heaven Hill.

Neptune said to the sea these should be a terrible Monstro, born from its deepest depths. It should be stout with the strength of a whale. this is that beer… of toasted barley mass, rounded out by the vanillas, molasses and oak of bourbon barrel aging. Enjoy the deep.

NoDa Monstro will be available at a special tap room release on October 23rd at the brewery in Charlotte in 16 ounce cans. The brewery is deciding on limits and price at the time of this article.

Style: Imperial Stout. (Barrel Aged. Bourbon.)
Availability: 16oz Cans
Latest Return: 10/23/16

11.2% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Coming Soon, Wicked Weed Brewing Co

Wicked Weed Dark Arts 2016: Rum aged

Wicked Weed Dark Arts, an American wild, barrel aged, imperial stout, returns again in October. This monstrous beer is an annual release, and 2016 marks just the third appearance.

Wicked Weed Dark Arts is brewed right up to the North Carolina alcohol cap of 15%. The 2014 edition was aged in bourbon, 2015 in tequila, and 2016 is aged in rum barrels. 

A barrel-aged imperial stout of such a high alcohol content can be cloyingly sweet. Head of brewing operations, Walt Dickinson, uses Brettanomyces yeast to cut down on the sweetness and dry out the beer. Wicked Weed Dark Arts is typically brewed in late summer/fall, and racked to barrels for nearly a year.

When you think about really good spirits, they are innately dry (not sweet) and without residual sugar,” adds Walt, Head of Brewing Operations. “Barrel aged stouts can be cloyingly sweet, but because we use brett, Dark Arts is a dry beer. Any residual sugar not usually consumed by traditional brewers yeast will be consumed by the brett and you won’t have to fight through too much sweetness.”

Wicked Weed Dark Arts Wild Imperial Stout will be available in 16.9 ounce bottles starting October 21st. A coffee variant, Dark Arts Espresso, will be available as well on the same day.

Style: American Wild Ale  (Barrel aged. Rum.)
Availability: 16.9oz Bottles, Draft.
Arrival: 10/21/16

15% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Seasonal Return, Beer News, Coming Soon, Highland Brewing

Highland Thunderstruck Coffee Porter 2016 release

Highland Thunderstruck Coffee Porter releases again this year, appearing on draft and in their tasting room on October 14th, 2016. Named for the Southern Appalachian landscape, Highland Thunderstruck Coffee Porter features fair trade/organic coffee from Dynamite Roasting Company.

This year’s version will feature both a Mexican dark roast blend and a lighter Honduran blend.

Early in the brewing process, referred to as the hot-side, Highland adds Mexican coffee at the end of the boil, which extracts the flavors much like the way coffee is made at home. Later, on the cold-side part of brewing, Honduran coffee and a portion of the base beer are blended, allowing the coffee to concentrate, after which the hi-test liquid is injected and circulated into each tank.

Highland Brewing Company along with Dynamite Roasting Company, show their dedication to the freshness of this offering by freshly grinding the beans the morning of each brew day.

Shortly after its release in the tasting room, Thunderstruck Coffee Porter will release across Highland’s distribution areas.

Additionally, Highland aims to protect the region that inspired this beer. So for every glass purchased on October 14th, they will donate $1 to Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy.

Style: Porter (w/ Coffee)
Hops: Chinook, Hallertau, German Select
Malts: Briess Pale Malt, Briess Caramel 60, Briess Chocolate, Briess Midnight Wheat.
1.5 lbs of coffee per barrel

Availability: 12 oz bottles, Draft. Fall Seasonal.
Latest Return: Mid-October, 2016

5.8% ABV, 26 IBUs

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in New Belgium, Coming Soon, Headlines

New Belgium Dayblazer, an “Easygoing Ale”

New Belgium Dayblazer Easygoing Ale, a future can potential from the Colorado/North Carolina based brewery.

Not a lot of details are known yet on Dayblazer, other than that the branding is a bit of a departure from a lot of the brewery’s on-going artwork. Additionally, there are artwork variants that include a 12 ounce can and a 24 ounce can. A 24 oz can will be a completely new can size for New Belgium.

New Belgium Dayblazer, aka “Easygoing Ale” will be a 4.8% alcohol by volume beer. The brewery has not yet announced this beer.

Style:
Availability: 

Debut: TBA

4.8% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in NoDa Brewing, Coming Soon

NoDa Sticky When Wet, a new fresh hopped beer

NoDa Sticky When Wet, the Charlotte, North Carolina based brewery’s fresh/wet hop beer is headed for cans.

Head brewer Chad Henderson spearheaded this hoppy project, going from hop field to brew 24 hours. Henderson chose two ridiculously popular hops for NoDa Sticky When Wet – Mosaic and Citra. The duo give this beer big peach and grapefruit flavors.

We brewed this beer one day after the hops were harvested…as fresh and sticky as you can get! This wet hopped heer has an assertive bitterness, balanced with bright aroma and flavors of peach and grapefruit derived horn heavy additions of Citra and Mosaic hops.https://beerstreetjournal.com/breweries/noda-brewing/

NoDa Sticky When Wet is a draft, and 16 ounce can release.

Style: IPA (Wet Hopped)
Hops: Citra, Mosaic

Availability: 16oz Cans, Draft.
Debut: Week of October 10th, 2016

6.31% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Terrapin Beer Company, Coming Soon, Headlines

Terrapin Tart Cherry Wake-n-Bake to join Special Reserve Series

Terrapin Tart Cherry Wake-n-Bake, a new entry in the brewery’s Special Reserve Series.

The base beer is an oatmeal imperial stout, brewed with a special coffee blend from Athen’s, Georgia roaster Jittery Joes. (The coffee blend is actually available for purchase as well.)  The brewery has spiked the stout with Montmorency cherry juice.

When life gives us cherries, we make “Tart Cherry W-n-B.” Brewed with real Montmorency cherry juice from the USA, and freshly roasted “Wake and Bake” coffee from Jittery Joe’s, this version of our classic Coffee Oatmeal Stout takes on an impeccable fruit forward dimension.

Other editions of Wake-n-Bake include Cinnamon Roll’d, that has been released a few times in the past, as well as French Toast W-n-B.  This year, the brewery will can the base Wake-n-Bake for the first time.

Terrapin Tart Cherry Wake-n-Bake will be a 22 ounce bottle and draft release in December, 2016.

Style: Imperial Stout (w/ Coffee. Cherries.)
Availability: 22oz Bottles, Draft. Limited Release.
Debut: December, 2016

9.4% ABV

by Reid Ramsay