Don’t Miss This

Anchor Coffee Porter is slated for bottles

From the San Francisco based brewery that already has an epic Porter, will soon come another – Anchor Coffee Porter.

The brewery’s historic building on Potrero Hill in San Francisco was once a coffee roaster. As Anchor describes it, it’s high Continue Reading →

Posted in The Bruery, Don't Miss This, Funky Buddha, New Releases

The Bruery & Funky Buddha’s Pink Snow is ridiculously unique

Later this year, The Bruery has a collaborative release slated for later this year, with Florida’s Funky Buddha Brewery. Until today, we thought there might only be one, but in actuality, there might be two. The first – Guava Libre!. A second potential has surfaced – The Bruery Pink Snow.

Both creations are slated to be cream ales. Guava Libre is inspired by a Cuban guava pastry. The Bruery Pink Snow also carries a dessert vibe, resulting in something more fitting for the SoCal and Florida mild winters – a tropical snow cone.

RELATED: The Bruery Guava Libre

This imperial cream ale features guava, dragonfruit, coconut, and vanilla beans, turned creamy smooth with the addition of lactose.

The result is so damn tropical. Vanilla and coconut subtley dominate the beer, which is creamy and quite unique. It’s a fruity tropical dessert that would be just a fantastic over shaved ice at a carnival. Probably one of the most unique beers we’ve tasted in a long, long while.

Since our collective exposure to the wet wintry elements is minimal, we at The Bruery® and Funky Buddha decided to create our own version of snow – something pink and tropical -that we can play in as temperatures start to arm. Championing the big, bold flavors our breweries are known for, we brewed an imperial cream ale, then added lactose and vanilla for sweetness, and guava, dragonfruit and coconut for a vibrant, tropical vibe.

The Bruery Pink Snow is slated for 750 milliliter bottles, debuting in the brewery’s taproom starting June 6th. No distribution.

Style: Imperial Cream Ale (w/ Guava. Dragonfruit. Coconut. Vanilla Beans. Lactose.)
Availability: 750ml Bottles, Draft.
Debut: 6/6/17

7.5% ABV

PIC: Beer Street Journal & Joel Kennedy, Marketing Manager of The Bruery.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Ommegang, Don't Miss This

Ommegang Bend the Knee may be the best Game of Thrones release yet

One day there will another Game of Thrones book. Perhaps sooner than that, the next season on HBO. In the mean time, Game of Thrones fans will sip Ommegang Bend the Knee and wait.

Commemorating the seventh season of the game changing series, Ommegang Bend the Knee is golden ale. The 9% alcohol by volume beer will debut in three different collector bottles, each with the house seals for each family vying for the Iron Throne.

Each of the 750 mililter bottles will sport House Stark, House Targaryen, and House Lannister, retailing around $10.99 per bottle. The brewery chose Saaz, Bravo, and Stryian Golding hops for the golden ale, with a malt base of pilsner and flaked oats.

This may be our favorite release to date. The throne may be iron, but this beer sports a beautiful golden hue, with a touch of citrus hop flavor. The wildflower honey addition cuts the bitterness like a sharp sword passing through your enemy. The Song of Ice & Fire may be complex, but this beer is a beautiful as the Mother of Dragons.

 

Bend the Knee is brewed with pils malt and flaked oats and hopped with Saaz, Bravo, and Styrian Golding hops. It pours a golden hue with a large, frothy head. Both the aroma and flavor mix maltiness and citrus from the hops, while Ommegang’s signature house yeast produces prominent fruitiness. Wildflower honey added during fermentation provides light sweetness to the beer, which finishes dry and with firm hop bitterness.

“With this next Game of Thrones-inspired release, we wanted a beer and a pack that was fit for a king… or a queen. Drawing from a rich Belgian brewing tradition, Golden Strong Ales are deceptive due to their unique combination of extreme drinkability and relatively high alcohol content. Bend the Knee walks that line, while also incorporating the delicate flavors of honey into the mix. The subtle noble and floral hop contribution adds to its delicateness, and the beer finishes smooth and dry.” Brewery Ommegang President, Doug Campbell.

Unlike the book or the tv season, Ommegang Bend the Knee has arrived right on time, Memorial Day Weekend 2017.

Style: Golden Ale (w/ Honey)
Hops: Saaz, Bravo, Stryian Golding
Malts: Pilsner, Flaked Oats

Availability: 750ml Bottles
Debut: Memorial Day, 2017

9% ABV

PIC: Beer Street Journal

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Sierra Nevada, Don't Miss This, The Bruery

Sierra Nevada Raspberry Sundae Ale, with The Bruery

Sierra Nevada Raspberry Sundae Ale can be found in the new Beer Camp Around the World mixed pack – a collaboration with The Bruery.

The Bruery’s Andrew Bell calls this an oddball beer. The ice cream inspired Raspberry Sundae Ale is standout in Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp Across the World box. To the point where you’re not sure whether you want to drink it first or last.

Raspberry Sundae Ale is brewed with raspberries, cacao nibs, and vanilla plus a touch of lactose for a bit of creaminess. You’ll every one of those flavors, but nicely retrained. A beer like this is supposed to bring a raspberry sundae to mind while drinking, even compliment the actual dessert. Not be a substitute for it.

Sierra Nevada and The Bruery’s Raspberry Sundae Ale creation is just one of 12 tasting adventures you’ll find in the Beer Camp Around the World box. Hitting shelves now.

Style: Herb/Spice Ale (w/ Raspberry, Vanilla Beans, Cocoa. Lactose.)
Availability: 12oz Bottles. Mixed Pack only.
Debut: Late May/June, 2017

8% ABV

Image: Beer Street Journal

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Don't Miss This

Video of Chinese factory making fake Budweiser goes viral

Consider this a bit more disgusting version of the counterfeit wallet or purse you can buy on a city street. A video of an underground factory in China has gone viral.

The video was circulated by an anonymous user on WeChat, an international messaging app, of factory workers making fake cans of Budweiser. The employees dump the recycled cans from a box into buckets, presumably lager beer, in a very unsanitary fashion, and add to the canning line and reseal. According to Ming Pao (a Chinese news source), the illegal facility churned out nearly 600,000 cases of fake Budweiser before they were busted.

Anheuser-Busch will most certainly be seeking legal action.

Headline image: Anheuser Busch

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

Anchor Coffee Porter is slated for bottles

From the San Francisco based brewery that already has an epic Porter, will soon come another – Anchor Coffee Porter.

The brewery’s historic building on Potrero Hill in San Francisco was once a coffee roaster. As Anchor describes it, it’s high time the brewery finally release a Coffee Porter in bottles. Last year, a coffee heavy porter was briefly available on draft.

Anchor Coffee Porter uses San Francisco based Four Barrel Coffee developed especially for this brew, that is added to the brewery’s famous Porter recipe.

We start in the brewhouse with our radically traditional recipe fro Anchor Porter, which we’ve been brewing since 1972. We end up in the cellar, where we add Four Barrel Flash Chilled Coffee – developed with Anchor especially for this beer -during secondary fermentation. The result is a coffee porter of immense richness, intensity, boldness, and smoothness, with deep aromas and mouthfeel of fresh-roasted coffee melded with dark-roasted maltiness.

Anchor Coffee Porter will be available in 12 ounce bottles and draft. The brewery has not yet announced this offering.

Style: Porter (w/ Coffee)
Availability: 12oz Bottles, Draft.
Debut: TBA

5.5% ABV

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

Westbrook releases new imperial “Three Claw”

It all started with One Claw a pale ale heavy on the rye malt. Next came came the hazy, juicy Two Claw IPA. This week, Westbrook Three Claw Imperial IPA makes its debut.

Expect more of the ever popular juice and haze in this release, which sports more “new world hops”. (The brewery hasn’t specified, but to us new world hops are varieties like Equinox, Mosaic, Citra, Galaxy, etc.)

The biggest claw of them all is a hazy double IPA with a heaping dose of new world hops.

Westbrook Three Claw is available in the brewery’s taproom in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. No distribution has been specified.

Style: Imperial IPA
Availability: 16oz Cans, Draft.
Debut: 5/25/17

8% ABV

Ed Note: Article updated to reflect 16 ounce cans. Image: Westbrook Brewing

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in The Veil Brewing, Don't Miss This, New Releases

The Veil Brewing French Vanilla Hornswoggler debuts this week

There’s a new dessert beer in Richmond, Virginia this week. The Veil Brewing French Vanilla Hornswoggler joins the lineup of the brewery’s most decadent.

This journey starts with Hornswoggler, the brewery’s chocolate milk stout. This variant is conditioned on a house blend of coffee, plus vanilla beans and a touch of hazelnut. The brewery explains this beer is a blend of each of the flavors, without one dominating.

The goal for French Vanilla Horns was to be a harmonious blend of all of the adjuncts. It was not the intent for it to be a coffee, Vanilla, or hazelnut bomb. It turned out awesome! Super aromatic. Very complex flavor profile.

The “Hornswoggler” series has featured a Coconut, Oreos, and Peanut Butter Oreos edition.

The Veil Brewing French Vanilla Hornswoggler debuts on May 23rd in limited 16 ounce cans and draft.

Style: Milk Stout (w/ Cocoa Nibs. Coffee. Vanilla Beans. Hazelnut. Lactose.)
Availability: 16oz Cans, Draft.
Debut: 5/23/17

7% ABV

by Reid Ramsay