Don’t Miss This

Terrapin Wake-n-Bake seasonal turns 17

Terrapin Wake-n-Bake, aka W-n-B, is making a seasonal return to the Athens, Georgia based brewery’s seasonal lineup. 

2021 marks the 17th release of Terrapin Wake-n-Bake, an oatmeal stout brewed with a special blend of coffee from Athens local Jittery Joes Coffee.

Black as Continue Reading →

Posted in Don't Miss This

Brewers Association says CANarchy still considered “craft”

The Brewers Association issued a statement today after the announcement that Monster Beverage Corp., makers of Monster Energy Drink acquired CANarchy Craft Beer Collective. 

Monster Beverage is a multi-billion dollar mainstream company, boasting more than 3,000 employees and $4.6 billion in revenue in 2020. Does this acquisition strip the 6th largest craft brewery (collective) out of their craft brewer/independent designation? 

According to the Brewers Association (BA), the answer is “no.”

The designation of “craft brewer” and its ever-changing perception lies in the hands of the BA, a not-for-profit trade organization that represents America’s craft and independent breweries.

While the definition has been tweaked over the years, today the BA clarified.  “Based on our current information, CANarchy meets the [Brewers Association’s] craft brewer definition under the ownership of Monster Energy as it is presently constituted,” the association said in a statement.

This determination is based on the fact that Monster was not previously an alcoholic beverage industry member, so this new ownership doesn’t affect how the BA views CANarchy’s independence. 

CANarchy does not exceed 6 million barrels (the association’s defined cut-off) in annual production, which is currently shy of 500,000 barrels annually, as well as meeting the criteria that less than 25% of the ownership or controlling interest is by a beverage alcohol industry member that is not itself a craft brewer. 

CANarchy and the breweries operating as a part of the collective – Oskar Blues, Cigar City, Perrin Brewing, Deep Ellum, Wasatch, and Squatter’s will all maintain “Independent” and “craft” designations by the Brewers Association. 

Most recently, Bell’s Brewery was sold to Kirin which previously acquired New Belgium Brewing. Both breweries lost or will lose the craft brewer status according to the BA. Bell’s production numbers will be included in 2021 ranking reports, but not considered for 2022. 

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Hi Wire Brewing, Brewery Expansions, Don't Miss This

Hi-Wire Brewing begins building new taproom in Cincinnati

Asheville, North Carolina’s Hi-Wire Brewing will soon have a new home in Cincinnati, Ohio. 

The brewery has selected a 20-acre redevelopment on the former site of the US Playing Card factory in Norwood dubbed Factory 52. The 5800 square foot taproom will be the first of its kind for Hi-Wire, spanning three different floors. The first floor will be home to a 24 tap bar and large patio, the 2nd floor will have a secondary 12-tap bar, with a third-floor rooftop deck. Family-friendly games including soccer pool, table tennis, and foosball will be found throughout. 

In addition to Hi-Wire Brewing, the Factory 52 campus will house a food hall, boutique retail shops, residences, a dog park, the newly-announced Aces Pickleball complex, and a large public courtyard.

Construction on Hi-Wire Cincinnati has already started, with a target opening date of Fall 2022. 

Hi-Wire currently has taprooms across North Carolina (Asheville, Durham, Wilmington, Charlotte) as well as Knoxville, Tennesee, and Louisville, Kentucky. 

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

Guinness releases barrel-aged Mint Chocolate Stout

Baltimore, Maryland-based Guinness Open Gate Brewery has a new seasonal imperial stout ahead of the holidays – Guinness Mint Chocolate Stout. 

The imperial stout is brewed with dried mint leaves, then conditioned on pure cacao (chocolate), then aged in Kentucky bourbon barrels.

“Chocolate and mint are a classic flavor combination, and the way those flavors interact with the bourbon character leads to something really special. It’s the perfect beer to sip on after a solid meal with family and friends over the holidays,” says Open Gate head brewer Sean Brennan. 

Guinness Mint Chocolate Stout also compliments recently returning Gingerbread Stout, also brewed in the Baltimore brewery. 

Mint Chocolate Stout is available in 11.2-ounce bottles for a limited time. 

Style: Imperial Stout (w/ Mint. Chocolate. Barrel Aged. Bourbon.)
Availability: 11.2 oz/4pk Bottles. Limited Release. 
Debut: November 2021 

10.8% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Founders Brewing, Don't Miss This

Maple syrup bourbon barrel Founders Frootwood back for 2nd time

Founders Frootwood debuted in 2017. For the first time since its release, Frootwood returns to the brewery’s taproom this month- nationally in January 2022. 

The beer was a big hit amongst the brewery’s barrel-aged beer fans. Frootwood is a cherry ale, aged in maple syrup bourbon barrels. As you might recall, one of the Founder’s most requested beers is also aged in maple syrup bourbon barrels – Canadian Breakfast Stout (CBS).

A flavor Battle Royale.

From the moment this story hit Beer Street Journal 2017, the readers were worried the beer would have too much cherry. Or even worse, being too sweet or too boozy. The result was actually a “Battle Royale” of flavor. Each sip pulled you three ways. The main contenders are bourbon, cherries, and maple syrup – each fighting for dominance.  When you hear someone say a beer is “all over the place,” Frootwood is a great example of just that. We hope the latest release is just the same.

We took a crisp, light-bodied cherry ale and hid it away in oak barrels that held both bourbon and maple syrup. After a lengthy sting, it emerged a changed beer, blanketed in notes of warm vanilla and earthy sweetness. The wood proves itself the star of this beer, adding depth and taming the tart cherry while the maple imposes a velvety texture that lingers for not a moment too long.

Founders Frootwood is a 12-ounce bottle release, as well as draft. Estimated retail $15.99 4/pack. 

Style: Fruit/Vegetable Beer (w/ Cherries. Barrel Aged. Bourbon. Maple Syrup.)
Availability: 12oz Bottles, Draft.
Debut: January 2017
Latest Return: November 2021

8% ABV

PIC: Beer Street Journal 

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Spoetzl Brewery, Don't Miss This

Dill pickle hard seltzer is here, thanks to Shiner

Spoetzl Brewery, makers of Shiner Beer has one of the weirdest hard seltzer flavors for you yet – dill pickle flavor. 

In August of 2020, Shiner debuted their Straight Shooter lineup of hard seltzers, with your standard fruit flavors like raspberry, peach, and grapefruit. However, if you want to stand out, especially in the seltzer category, you have to do something unique. So pickles it is. 

Something we’ve learned over the years, pickles are pretty polarizing. They are in the same category as raisins, peas, or mustard. There is no “pickle” middle ground. So already, a dill pickle flavored hard seltzer is a challenge. 

Shiner Juicy Dill Pickle Hard Seltzer is actually made with real pickles, incidentally the brewery’s 6th brewmaster Jimmy Maurice’s family recipe. The brewery says the final flavor is a blend of sweet and sour dill pickle, with notes of dill, coriander, and spice. 

Let’s get weirder. 

Each can of the special edition seltzer has a QR code that takes the drinker to picklemode.com where they will find a “magical, animated pickle” that will tell you your future. Yes, the Oracle Pickle to help you make life decisons.

Incidentally, November 14th is National Pickle Day. There really is a day for everything these days. 

Shiner Juicy Pickle Hard Seltzer is available in 12-ounce, 6-packs for $7.99 for a limited time. It should pair well with a Jameson shot. 

Style: Hard Seltzer (w/ Dill Pickles)
Availability: 12oz Cans. Limited Release. 
Distribution: TX, FL, LA, AR, GA, PA, OK, KS, IL, WI, ND, SD, NM, NV

Debut: November 2021

4.5% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Terrapin Beer Company, Don't Miss This, Seasonal Return

Terrapin Wake-n-Bake seasonal turns 17

Terrapin Wake-n-Bake, aka W-n-B, is making a seasonal return to the Athens, Georgia based brewery’s seasonal lineup. 

2021 marks the 17th release of Terrapin Wake-n-Bake, an oatmeal stout brewed with a special blend of coffee from Athens local Jittery Joes Coffee.

Black as night, this coffee stout is thick, rich and full of real coffee flavor. Brewed with a special blend of beans from all over the world developed and roasted specifically for Terrapin by our friends at Jittery Joe’s Coffee right here in Athens, GA.

In 2014, Terrapin invested in a canning line, and started transitioning their entire lineup from bottles to cans. W-n-B was one of the first seasonals to make the change back in 2016. If you like a bold stout with coffee and hints of creamy chocolate, this seasonal favorite does not disappoint. 

Terrapin Wake-n-Bake is available in 12 ounce cans and draft across the brewery’s distribution network in November 2021. 

Style: Imperial Oatmeal Stout (w/ Coffee)
Hops: Nugget

Availability: 12oz Cans, Draft.
Can Debut: November, 2016
Latest Return: November 2021.

9.4% ABV

PIC: Beer Street Journal

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Tucker Brewing Company, Don't Miss This

Tucker Brewing takes home Georgia’s 1st lager gold in 30 years

Georgia’s Tucker Brewing Company just took home Great American Beer Festival Gold in the Light Lager category. In an American landscape of nearly 10,000 breweries, that’s not an easy feat. 

American craft beer is in a bit of a “lager renaissance” of sorts it’s finally normal [again] to see a lager on tap at a brewery. Hell, just a few years ago in Georgia folks were all but drowning in a sea of IPAs and stouts, but now – the Peach State is home to at least three lager-focused breweries. We’d like to extend a personal thank you that no one has tried to make a milk lager. (Yet.)

Tucker Brewing’s Lager, aka Tucker Lager, is barely four years old. The brewery’s appropriately named head brewmaster Tucker Eagleson (purely coincidental) was brewing at Heavy Seas in Baltimore, Maryland when he stumbled across the head brewer job at Tucker Brewing on ProBrewer. His name naturally got his foot in the door. 

One of the conditions of getting the job was that Eagleson had to have at least two lager recipes ready for the brewery’s upcoming Tucktoberfest that year. Within weeks of landing in Georgia, he had a märzen and Honeysuckle Helles Lager, that would eventually be Tucker Lager ready to go. 

The märzen is seasonal, but Lager immediately became year-round. “The recipes for either beer never really changed after the fest,” Eagleson says. It was just a series of [a thousand] different tweaks and sensory panels to improve the beer,” he adds. 

Light Lager may sound like a common beer, but it’s unforgiving if you don’t know what you’re doing. A stout or porter might hide imperfections or off-flavors, but a lager is like changing clothes in the front yard. You see everything. 

Here in 2021, Eagleson figured it might be time to enter it in GABF, which still held the competition despite canceling the public festival for the second year in a row. Last Saturday morning, Eagleson woke up to a text from brewery co-founder Ashley Hubbard that out of 137 category entries, Tucker Lager won gold. “It took a second for it to set in,” he says. 

It’s actually the first gold medal for a lager in Georgia in more than 30 years. A medal that’s well deserved. The all-German hop and malt lager is about as clean and crisp of a beer as you’ll find anywhere. 

Taking home gold for a light lager on your first try is no easy feat I say to him. Eagleson smiles and simply replies. “I’ll drink to that.”

by Reid Ramsay