Don’t Miss This

Posted in The Veil Brewing, Don't Miss This

Another Hawaiian Punch inspired beer: The Veil Brewing Never Never Aloha Aloha

It may be past Labor Day, but Richmond, Virginia is still getting a little tropical. The Veil Brewing Never Never Aloha Aloha debuts today.

If you aren’t familiar with The Veil’s beer naming nomenclature, when you see the double name, it’s going to be the “double” version of another similar beer. In this case, Never Aloha released in back in March.

The Veil Brewing Never Never Aloha Aloha is a double version of their Hawaiian Punch inspired gose, brewed with literally hundreds of gallons of pineapple, mango, passion fruit, blood orange, Guava, and cherry purée, plus Hawaiian red alaea sea salt.

Super tart and loaded with tropical notes on the aromatics and flavor profile.

The Veil Brewing Never Never Aloha Aloha will be available when the brewery opens on September 5th.

Style: Gose (w/ Passionfruit, Pineapple, Mango, Blood Orange, Guava. Cherries.)
Availability: 16oz Cans, Draft.
Debut: 9/5/17

5.1% ABV

Image: The Veil Brewing

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Left Hand Brewing, Don't Miss This, New Releases

Finally. Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro cans are here

Left Hand Brewing made headlines a few years ago when they debuted their milk stout in bottles. At the time they were the first craft brewery to transition to nitro packaging. With the addition of cans to their lineup, many fans thought the lack of milk stout was an oversight. Not anymore Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro cans will debut this year.

RELATED: Left Hand A Blessing & A Curse

One of the most recognizable milk stouts in the world is finally getting the can treatment. The smooth and creamy (and chocolatey) milk stout will soon go everywhere you go, with no glass limitations. The best part of this news? These babies are a full 16 ounces. While the bottles are nitrogen injected, each for the cans have a nitro “widget” that’s stuck to the bottom of the can. Nitrogen gas rushes upward through beer upon opening. No glass needed.

While a glass is always recommended for the perfect pint, especially when you #PourHard a Nitro bottle, cans bring a greater drinking versatility, and bring Milk Stout Nitro to your lips with the crack of a can.

Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro cans will be available across the brewery’s 40 state reach starting in August.

Style: Milk Stout (w/ Lactose.)
Hops: Magnum, U.S. Goldings
Malts: Pale 2-row, Crystal, Munich, Roasted Barley, Flaked Oats, Flaked Barley and Chocolate
Availability: 12oz Bottles, 16oz Cans, Draft.
Debut (Cans): August 2017

6% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Hopworks, Don't Miss This, New Releases

Oregon’s HUB will be picking hops during the solar eclipse

It’s been 38 years since the last mainland U.S. solar eclipse. The path of totality begins on the Oregonian coast and heads east on August 21st. In honor of this occasion, and since hop harvest has already begun, one brewery is commemorating the eclipse in a special way.

Portland,Oregon based Hopworks Urban Brewery will be harvesting fresh hops during the solar event, on Goschie Farms in the Willamette Valley. The hops pulled from the vine during totality will be trucked over to the brewery and added to the brite tank in just hours.

This coming Friday, the brewery will release HUB Total Blackout, an imperial cascadian dark ale (think black IPA) in 22-ounce bottles. The eclipse may not have any effect on the hops, but you can still enjoy a bit of the astronomical magic in a bottle.

HUB Total Blackout will be available at the brewery’s Powell location starting August 25th.

Style: Black IPA
Hops: Centennial

Availability: 22oz Bottles
Debut: 8/25/17

?? ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Stone Brewing Co., Don't Miss This

“Juicy” Stone Tangerine Express IPA is a success, gets canned

Stone Tangerine Express IPA joined the brewery’s lineup in February. The “juicy” IPA has been quite successful, prompting the addition of cans.

There is no doubt that Stone Brewing loves their India pale ales. The most popular style in craft beer always seems to have room for another by the California based brewery.

Stone Tangerine Express IPA features whole tangerines and pineapples, added to a hoppy base IPA. No, fruited IPAs are NOT dead. Stone doesn’t stop short of taking a shot a some of those overly juicy IPAs out there. In the brewery’s own words – this one is for adults.

Imagine the tropical haze of a lazy afternoon-into-evening. Your official duties of the day have been to maybe take a hike to a secluded waterfall, perhaps grill something, definitely chill with plenty of sand between your toes…and crack a phenomenal beer to complete the experience. Check, check, check again and…pff…check.

Welcome to our vacation transportation express.

This ain’t no just-add-juice approach. This one is for adults. We use bountiful whole tangerine puree, which brings pithy, cap bitterness with the citrus flavor. In addition to the complexities of the tangerine — the likes of which you can only get by using the whole fruit — we judiciously employ just a hint of whole pineapple for a backbone. (you’d likely not even pick it out of the mix if we didn’t tell you it was there). We’re not looking for a sweet concoction to appease the “I want my beer to taste like fruit juice crowd. This is Stone. We like our IPAs to taste like IPAs. Big, bold, and not for kids.

Stone Tangerine Express IPA is already a 22-ounce bottle release. 12-ounce cans hit shelves in California in August, going national by January 2018.

Style: IPA (w/ Tangerine, Pineapple.)
Hops: Citra, Centennial, Sterling, Azacca, Mosaic
Availability: 22oz Bottles, Draft.
Debut: February 2017
Can Debut: August 2017

6.7% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Creature Comforts, Coming Soon, Don't Miss This

Creature Comforts announces blended “Subtle Alchemy” Series

Athens, Georgia based Creature Comforts debuts new “Subtle Alchemy” Series this fall.

This new series will feature unique, one-off blends from various barrels in the brewery’s wood cellar. Each carefully selected blend is designed to only ever exist the one time, never to be replicated again.

Each blend is distinct in its parts and singular in the moment in time it is created.

Currently, there are details regarding the first three blended ‘Subtle Alchemy’ releases.

  • Blend 001 – bottled 1/10/17 – Three separate French oak fermented saisons aged 10-14 months. Deep wood, must, earth, lemon zest, tart.
  • Blend 002 – bottled 1/13/17. – This blend is an exploration of American oak, an uncommon voice in our mixed fermentation wood cellar. Two of the three threads in this blend, the oldest being DaySpring aged on second-use Balaton cherries for 22 months, are aged in American oak giving it a more creamy and vanilla tone than many of our French oak aged beers. Light cherry fruit, vanilla, creamy, tart.
  • Blend 003 – bottled 1/31/17 – There are many pieces to blend number 3. The overall theme is an expression of hops and citrus through time and mixed fermentation. Zest from lemons and oranges, multiple independent dry hops, and very small amounts of apricots bring this blend to life. Ranging in age from 12-24 months this blend has brightness and depth. Citrus, overripe fruit, stone fruit, tart.
  • Those attending the Shelton Brothers Festival in Atlanta this weekend will have the opportunity to try Blend 001 before it can be found in the taproom.

Creature Comforts Subtle Alchemy is a limited, 750 milliliter bottle offering starting this fall.

 Image: Creature Comforts

RELATED: Creature Comforts Athena Paradiso (Passionfruit Guava) returns in August  

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in The Bruery, Beer News, Don't Miss This

“Toasted” makes a big difference in The Bruery Mash & Coconut

The Bruery Mash & Coconut was once only available to those individuals in the brewery's "Reserve Society" and those lucky friends they shared it with. This latest batch of the coconut heavy barleywine now available to the public. Because good beer is meant to be shared.

In the process of upscaling this recipe, the brewing team was blown away at how much more coconut flavor and depth came from toasted coconut instead of flaked coconut. The next step? Renting commercial ovens to toast 1000s of pounds of the tasty, tropical flakes.

All in all, 400 pounds of in-house roasted coconut went into each batch of Mash & Coconut. Beer Street Journal was on site in Placentia, California when the barrels were emptied in July. You'll see bits of the barrel char and even some coconut chunks on the floor of the brewery in the images below. The smell of coconut and oaky bourbon was delightfully inescapable. Every breath made your mouth water. Back in the taproom, our clothes still had faint hints coconutty oak on them.

The Bruery Mash & Coconut is a limited release, in 750-milliliter bottles.

Style:Barleywine (w/ Coconut. Barrel Aged. Bourbon.)
Availability: 750ml Bottles
Latest Release: August 2017

13.1% ABV

Image: Beer Street Journal

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Anheuser-Busch, Don't Miss This

In new TV spots, craft beer is overwhelming so drink Bud Light 

When in doubt, take a shot a craft beer. That seems to be Anheuser Busch’s mentality in the latest advertising spots for Bud Light.

In the upcoming TV spots, if you are overwhelmed by craft beer’s extensive and “unusual” concoctions, Bud Light will be waiting, with its four ingredients – water, rice, barley and hops. No need to look for fruit, spices or even lobster here.

The new TV promos titled “Bottle” and “Complex” will air on August 10th during the Denver Broncos and Chicago Bears preseason game. The push promotes Bud Light as “America’s Light Lager.”

This latest marketing approach comes as big brand light beers like Bud Light are in decline. According to Beer Marketer’s Insights, Bud Light was down 8.4% for 12 weeks thru July 16 in IRI multi-outlet and convenience in a Q2 conference call. Despite the downturn, the company states the beer is considered an “underdog” in beer circles, yet A-B states 20,000 Bud Lights are sold every minute, every day of the year.

This may not be the Peach Pumpkin Ale brouhaha of the Super Bowl in 2015, but it’s still interesting to see a company that spends over a billion dollars acquiring craft breweries take a shot at the beers they create.

These spots, and other creative content focus on the quality and simplicity Bud Light delivers with its four essential ingredients. The new creative takes consumers to the heart of the brewing process, showing how Bud Light takes the time to make sure every beer goes down smooth and crisp, so it can be shared and enjoyed among friends.

Despite declining volume this summer, Bud Light is still the number #1 beer sold in America, followed by Coors Light.

https://youtu.be/GGUoxBV0Tck

by Reid Ramsay