Headlines

New Belgium teams up with Knob Creek Bourbon

New Belgium Brewing’s latest collaboration is not with a brewery, but with a bourbon distillery. New Belgium Oakspire Bourbon Barrel Ale is hitting shelves.

The Fort Collins, Colorado brewery touts this beer as an entirely different kind of bourbon-inspired ale. instead Continue Reading →

Posted in Headlines

IHOP creates a pumpkin pancake beer brewed with pancake batter

IHOP, aka the International House of Pancakes, (burgers for a minute but really pancakes), now can tout something new. Beer. You could argue that IHOP is back to IHOB again, and the “B” means beer.

New York-based Keegan Ales worked with IHOP on the creation of this fall-meets-breakfast-meets-beer hybrid – a pumpkin pancake stout. The beer brewed with the chain’s famous buttermilk pancake batter. This is literally the craft beer world folks. Just when you thought we are making beers like this up, we aren’t. It’s all very, very real.

This beer is brewed to promote IHOP’s Pumpkin Spice Pancakes that are available seasonally as you read this. According to Keegan Ales, this stout is a blend of roasty stout flavors, pumpkin, vanilla and pancake batter.

For all the pancake and pastry stout fans comes a bit of bad news. IHOPS Pumpkin Pancake Stout will only be available at select events and locations in the state of New York.

Some folks will be lucky enough to drink in fall, one pancake beer at a time.

Image: Beer Street Journal

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in New Belgium, Headlines

New Belgium teams up with Knob Creek Bourbon

New Belgium Brewing’s latest collaboration is not with a brewery, but with a bourbon distillery. New Belgium Oakspire Bourbon Barrel Ale is hitting shelves.

The Fort Collins, Colorado brewery touts this beer as an entirely different kind of bourbon-inspired ale. instead of resting this release in barrels on regular barrel staves, Knob Creek soaked and oak spirals signature bourbon, which New Belgium aged on a rye-heavy ale.

“Our Brewhouse team likes to say that we didn’t just develop a custom extraction technology, but rather, a beer-flavoring ‘missile,’ and we’re thrilled to present our newest, innovative venture with the launch of Oakspire Bourbon Barrel Ale,” says Ross Koenigs, Research and Development Brewer.

He’s not joking about the “missile” innovation. The brewery’s engineers created a missile-shaped vessel where Knob Creek Bourbon-soaked oak spirals and char from used Knob Creek barrels “mingle” with the high rye ale. This extraction includes harvesting the barrel char, plus a blend of toasted oak spirals at varying degrees to bring all the oak and spice into the liquid.

New Belgium Oakspire Bourbon Barrel Ale is available in 12-ounce bottles and draft now, while supplies last.

Style: American Strong Ale (Oak Aged. Bourbon.)
Hops: Nugget, HBC 472
Malts: Pale, Munich, Caramel 80m, Rye, Roasted Barley

Availability: 12oz Bottles, Draft.
Debut: Late September 2018

9% ABV, 20 IBUs

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Dogfish Head, Headlines

Dogfish Head launches full-scale wild ale program this month with “KnottyBits”

Delaware-based Dogfish Head has released a few sour ales in the past, starting with Festina Lente nearly 15 years ago. That wild ale won a bronze medal at the World Beer Cup in 2006. Let’s not forget current heavy seller SeaQuench Ale, America’s best selling sour according to the brewery. On September 29th, Dogfish KnottyBits will inaugurate the brewery’s full-scale American Wild Ale program – “Wooden…it Be Nice?”

KnottyBits has spent a year in wood barrels with Brettanomyces yeast, aged on 700 pounds of sweet and sour cherries plus rhubarb from Fifer Orchards. That equates to nearly 2 pounds of cherries per gallon.

Additionally,  the brewery has announced two more wild ale releases in the new series:

  • Wet Hop American Summer (November) – a Farmhouse Ale (7.75% ABV),  this beer was aged in freshly emptied Chardonnay barrels with Brettanomyces for over a year, before being racked onto freshly harvested and hand-selected whole leaf Citra hops, still wet from the fields.
  • Eastern Seaboard (December) – Wild ale (8% ABV) brewed with blackberries and beach plums.  After spending almost a year and a half aging in wine barrels, the liquid was met with several hundred pounds of blackberry and Eastern Shore beach plums, handpicked and selected by the brewers.

2000 Dogfish Head KnottyBits 375-milliliter bottles will be available at the brewery on September 29th at the brewery starting at 11 am.

Style: American Wild Ale (w/ Cherries. Rhubarb.)
Availability: 375ml Bottles, Corked & Caged
Debut: 9/29/18

8.2% ABV 

Image: Dogfish Head

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Wild Heaven Craft Beers, Headlines

 The Atlanta Falcons will have this $5 craft beer all season thanks to Wild Heaven 

This upcoming NFL season, Mercedes Benz Stadium, home of the Atlanta Falcons is set to sell $5 dollar craft beers. Rumors swirled as to what brewery was selected for the honor. Hailing from nearby Avondale Estates, Wild Heaven ATL Pale Ale is ready to fly.

This fresh new pale ale is described by co-founder Eric Johnson as “light, crisp beer that is easy to enjoy for drinkers new to craft beer with enough body and flavor for the craft beer lover.”  The 5% alcohol by volume beer will debut in the stadium for the first home game against the Carolina Panthers.

“We are honored to make this beer for fans in Atlanta. Beer is the drink of the people and we’re excited that this collaboration can bring craft beer to tens of thousands of new fans in a thrilling environment,” – Wild Heaven Beer co-founder Nick Purdy.

Atlanta designer Bart Sasso of Sasson & Co. created the artwork for Wild Heaven ATL Pale Ale and reimagines Sasso’s famous “ATL Hold It Down” imagery.

At the moment, 16-ounce cans of ATL Pale Ale will only be found at Mercedes Benz Stadium. The brewery plans to bring it to distribution in the near future.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in New Realm Brewing, Headlines

New Realm Brewing opens Virginia Beach location

New Realm Brewing opened their first location just days after the start of 2018 in Atlanta. The brewpub was a record breaker in size for The Peach State. By spring, New Realm was at brewing capacity. Founders Carey Falcone, Bob Powers, and Mitch Steele were running at full speed but still had their eye on more.

While spring was looking great for the trio in Atlanta, the news was breaking about California based Green Flash. Comerica Bank was foreclosing on their bank loan, and their CEO was exiting the business. Their new Virginia Beach location was in peril.

Carey Falcone told Beer Street Journal back in April how surprised he was about the Green Flash news. Despite the situation, the location and brewing equipment price was too good to pass up. At the time, they were going to just sit on the capital purchase.

Instead, New Realm opted to go full steam ahead. This summer was spent giving the location facelift and prepping for New Realm Brewing Virginia Beach. Today it opens to the public.

Mitch Steele will head up this second brewhouse as well – a 50 barrel system with an annual capacity of 40,000 barrels with space for 1,000s more. Draft will be distributed around the area through Hoffman Beverage, with cans coming in 2019.

According to Falcone, New Realm is investing heavily in the new facility in the coming year, including an outdoor bar, quality control lab, and full kitchen with 400 seat restaurant.

The tasting room and beer garden are open Monday through Thursday from 4 to 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight; and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

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by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Atlanta Brewing Company, Headlines, Red Brick Brewing

Red Brick changes names back to Atlanta Brewing Company again

Georgia’s oldest craft brewery started 25 years ago as Atlanta Brewing Company. Then a few years back, the brewery adopted the name Red Brick Brewing. Today, they are making a change again, back to Atlanta Brewing Company.

“The craft beer market has changed significantly over the last several years and we felt it was important to highlight the changes and improvements that we’ve made here at the brewery,” says brewery President Garett Lockhart. Red Brick has changed a lot over the course of the double decades they have been brewing in Atlanta. Years ago, the taproom was a crimson red, had between 6 and 8 taps, and an original XBox.

These days, Hollywood movies have been filmed in the updated taproom that now has 20 taps, with a beer lineup never seen at Atlanta Brewing Company before.

Even today, the taproom is getting another touchup to celebrate the new future.

CODO, an Indianapolis, Indiana based creative agency was selected for the branding updates. The Atlanta Brewing Company logo and core canned products, including new Hartsfield IPA, will have a new look going forward.

Atlanta Brewing Company is hosting a re-branding party on August 31st. Additionally, the brewery has collaborated with local breweries around Georgia in celebration of 25 years.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in 10 Barrel Brewing, Coming Soon, Headlines

10 Barrel Brewing creates a beer with the last Blockbuster Video on Earth

There’s an 80’s song that talks about video killing the radio star. Then came the internet, and movie streaming that eventually killed Blockbuster, what was once America’s largest movie rental service. There is only one Blockbuster left, and it’s located in Bend, Oregon. 10 Barrel Brewing is based nearby that last lonely bastion of physical media rental (unless you’re still using Redbox.) Of course, such a thing calls for a beer collaboration. Here’s nostalgic flashback in beer form – 10 Barrel Brewing The Last Blockbuster.

Don’t act like you didn’t snag a mountain of candy on the way out the door on your rental adventure. 10 Barrel Brewing The Last Blockbuster screams popcorn and movie theater candy, and they certainly did so in abundance.

The beer is subtitled a “S1nistor Black Ale’ with nuances of red licorice. The image the brewery is circulating has more theater candy in the background, but no mention of the label.

We’d almost think it’s an April Fool’s Joke if it didn’t pop up in August.

The brewery and PR company of record have not responded to a request for more details… 

by Reid Ramsay