Headlines

Budweiser wants to brew beer on Mars

Over the weekend at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, Texas, Budweiser announced a plan to brew on Mars. Let’s assume poopy potatoes won’t be involved.

In a panel that featured Kate Mara from the hit movie The Martian, VP of Continue Reading →

Full Sail Session Lager moves to cans

Full Sail Session Lager is making a move to cans. One of America’s original session beers is about to go anywhere.

The “stubby” bottles you’ve seen for years are downright iconic now. The perfect session beer has a perfect, palm size Continue Reading →

Posted in Headlines

Budweiser wants to brew beer on Mars

Over the weekend at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, Texas, Budweiser announced a plan to brew on Mars. Let’s assume poopy potatoes won’t be involved.

In a panel that featured Kate Mara from the hit movie The Martian, VP of innovation at Anheuser-Busch Val Toothman, and former astronaut Clayton Anderson, Budweiser announced this plan to achieve this lofty goal.

RELATED: Budweiser wants to invent the beer Keurig

The desire to brew in space is shared by many. Oregon’s Ninkasi recently sent yeast to space and back, creating a beer from it. That might actually be viewed as easy, when compared to brewing in a microgravity environment. Stick with us here.

Gravity is helpful. 

From the mash tun, to the fermentor. gravity plays a big role. Plus, beer in space would be flat. There is no buoyancy to bring the bubbles to the top.

Let’s say humans start living on Mars tomorrow. The gravitation pull on Mars is 3.71 m/s², which is roughing one third of the earth’s pull. You’d have to engineer special brewing equipment, before you even got around to the flat beer issue. Additionally, the fermentation behavior of yeast in a weightless environment needs to be studied.

“With this bold, new dream Budweiser is celebrating the entrepreneurial spirit in which our iconic brand was founded upon. Through our relentless focus on quality and innovation, Budweiser can today be enjoyed in every corner of the world, but we now believe it is time for the King of Beers to set its sights on its next destination. When the dream of colonizing Mars becomes a reality, Budweiser will be there to toast the next great step for mankind,” said Ricardo Marques, vice president, Budweiser.

These questions and challenges are all things Budweiser hopes to conquer over the next decade. When humans get to Mars, Anheuser-Busch wants their Martian beer there right along with them.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Speakeasy Ales & Lagers, Headlines

San Francisco’s Speakeasy Ales & Lagers ceases operations

Speakeasy Ales & Lagers has ceased operations, packaging and tap room operations, effective immediately. The brewery cites “difficulty securing capital investment, and outstanding debt obligations” leading to this decision.

Per Speakeasy, the company’s primary creditor will determine the future of the brewery.

“The brewery has worked with multiple investment banking groups and have had numerous meetings. One fact has become central to the process, and that is the company is financially insolvent and requires new capital to move forward. Whether that will happen is unclear, but I do hope the brewery and brand will persist.” – Forest Gray, Speakeasy founder and CEO

The remaining fresh inventory of Speakeasy beer has left the brewery and headed to distributors.

Beer Street Journal reached out to Speakeasy for comment, but emails were not immediately returned.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in The Bruery, Headlines

The Bruery Share This OC releases this month. Think chocolate oranges

The Bruery Share This OC ships this month, marking the third release in the brewery’s charitable series.

The series of imperial stouts are all about sharing the love. Both with friends and with those in need. This edition of the imperial stout is inspired by southern California’s history with oranges. California citrus once was called the “second gold rush.” Orange County was once home to millions of orange trees, and still grow quite well there, if you can afford the land.

RELATED: The Bruery Share This: Mole

Taking the roasty, chocolatey base that is Share This, the brewers added cocoa nibs from San Francisco’s TCHO Chocolates, orange zest, and vanilla beans. The result is what we figure will be something a bit like a chocolate orange you get in your stocking at Christmas. Except this one gets you drunk, not hyper.

Drawing upon the southern Cali inspiration, a portion of the proceeds will benefit Food Forward. The group works to eradicate food waste and act as a bridge to get fresh healthy produce to over 1.25 million of the region’s most at risk.

“It’s hard to not have an affinity for oranges when you grow up in Orange County. Oranges and chocolate are a natural pair, each flavor enhancing the other. We’re excited to bring this flavor combination to Share This, and to support Food Forward, a local charity that benefits our community by providing delicious, fresh fruit to those who might not have access to it otherwise.” – Patrick Rue, The Bruery Founder & CEO

Thus far, the Share This Series has raised nearly $100,000 dollars for selected charities.

The Bruery Share This OC will be available starting in March, in 750 milliliter bottles.

Style: Imperial Stout (w/ Chocolate, Vanilla Beans, Orange Zest)
Availabilty: 750ml Bottles
Debut: March, 2017

?? ABV

PIC: The Bruery

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Headlines

New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Passionfruit Imperial IPA look to expand “Voodoo” series

New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Passionfruit Imperial IPA, a future special release by the Colorado/North Carolina based brewery.

As 2016 drew to a close, New Belgium made few changes to their lineup, adding the Voodoo Ranger Series. The name is a nod to their beer reps in the field, lovingly referred to as “Beer Rangers”.

The lineup now includes 8 Hop IPA, and Imperial IPA. In a future potential special release, look for New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Passionfruit Imperial IPA. The tropical flavors of the passionfruit are backed back a copious amount of Citra and Galaxy hops. Sounds like a tropical hop explosion.

We’re told to eat 1 pint of fruit per day, id on’t know much about food, but I do know about pints. I also know what you should by my Passionfruit Imperial IPA. What should you expect from this expertly crafted ale? Tons of fresh tropical aromas backed by strong hop presence from Citra and Galaxy hops. Crack open my Passionfruit Imperial and add a pint of IPA to your day.

New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Passionfruit Imperial IPA will be a 22 ounce bottle release. The brewery has not yet announced this release.

Style: Imperial IPA (w/ Passionfruit)
Hops: Citra, Galaxy
Availability: 22oz Bottles, Draft.
Debut: TBA

8% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Full Sail Brewing, Headlines

Full Sail Session Lager moves to cans

Full Sail Session Lager is making a move to cans. One of America’s original session beers is about to go anywhere.

The “stubby” bottles you’ve seen for years are downright iconic now. The perfect session beer has a perfect, palm size bottle, but glass has its limitations. When you see that bottle, you think Full Sail.

As much as we love Full Sail Session Lager at Beer Street Journal, but when pool season rolls around bottles get benched. Not this summer. After 12 years you”ll finally be reaching for a Session can. The best part? The coveted 15 packs.

“It’s the same award-winning lager, but now in a can. It feels as good in the hand as the iconic stubby, and it will go places where the bottle couldn’t.” Full Sail Brewmaster Jim Kelter

Warm weather is just around the corner (if you don’t have it already.) Full Sail Session Lager cans aren’t far behind.

Style: Lager
Availability: 12oz Cans, 12oz Bottles, Draft.
Debut (Cans): March, 2017

5.1% ABV, 18 IBUs

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Tree House Brewing Company, Headlines, Sierra Nevada

Sierra Nevada Beer Camp East Meets West IPA, featuring Tree House Brewing

Sierra Nevada Beer Camp East Meets West IPA will be a part of this years “Beer Camp Around the World” when it debuts later this year.

In 2017, Sierra Nevada is taking their famed Beer Camp internationally, collaborating with both selected American brewers, and some of the world’s best. Stateside, Massachusetts based Tree House Brewing Company has been  selected.

RELATED: Sierra Nevada teams up with Surly Brewing 

Sierra Nevada is famous for the west coast IPA. If you wanted to point fingers at breweries responsible for the hazy, “New England Style” IPA, at least one finger would be pointed at Tree House. Perhaps that’s what makes this future collaboration so interesting. Clarity meets hazy. East Coast meets West Coast. Think of it like turning on a humidifier and dehumidifier at the same time. You’d think it would cause a rip in the space-time continuum.

In just a few short years, Tree House has made made a big impact on the beer scene with their approach to the IPA – low bitterness, intense juicy hop flavor and unfiltered haze. As fellow lovers of the IPA, we combined our styles – the classic American IPA malt body and the New England approach to hopping- resulting in lightly bitter, unfiltered beer with huge hop flavor.

Sierra Nevada Beer Camp East Meets West IPA will be a part of both the Beer Camp Variety Pack, and pouring at various Beer Camp festivals later this year.

Style: IPA
Availability: 16oz Cans, Draft.
Debut: TBA

7% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Second Self Brewing Company, Coming Soon, Headlines

It’s more than just beer. It’s art. Second Self Manic Pixie Dream

It’s hard not to judge a book by it’s cover. The same goes for beer. As beer gets infinitely more creative, so has the artwork that goes along with it. Atlanta’s Second Self Beer didn’t just brew a great beer and slap a label on it. Manic Pixie Dream is a “next level” kind of collaboration.

This story starts a bit before the beer was brewed. Brewery co-founder Jason Santamaria has been a fan of Keith P. Rein’s artwork for a while. The guy is best known for the Slaughterhouse Starlets Series. Basically, he takes famous females like Winona Ryder or Taylor Swift and juxtaposes them into a murdery, Dexter-like composition. When Santamaria married his wife Liz, he noticed Keith P. Rein to be the dominant in each other’s art collection.

All Santamaria needed was a good reason to reach out to is favorite artist. As it turns out, Rein has always wanted to do a piece for a beer can. Manic Pixie Dream was born.

The Second Self team went big when it comes to the beer. The base is an 11% alcohol by volume Russian imperial stout, that has been aged in Blis barrels. The mere mention of Blis will make a beer fan salivate. Blis Gourment is a Michigan based company that ages maple syrup in bourbon barrels. After the maple syrup is drained, what you have left is a playground for one hell of an awesome beer. As an added bonus, Second Self infused locally roasted Batdorf & Bronson coffee.

Santamaria and Rein weren’t satisfied with just creating one label. Especially with a beer as complex as this one. Blis barrels are hard to come by, and recipes like this one are expensive. Ultimately, this beer is in short supply. Created simply for your own happiness. A bit like the Manic Pixie Dream Girl movie trope.

Coined in 2005 by film critic Nathan Rabin after watching Kirsten Dunst’s character in Elizabethtown, MPDG is a  “bubbly, shallow cinematic creature that exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures.” Other examples include Kate Hudson’s character in Almost Famous, Natalie Portman in Garden State, or Marilyn Monroe in Some Like it Hot.

With Manic Pixie Dream in mind, Rein drew four different iterations of Pixie. Each label breaks out a component of the beer – Coffee, Maple Syrup, Bourbon, and Grains. Besides the incredible artwork, the beer is fantastic. Truly a sipper, where the each of the components starts to pop as the beer warms. After the barrel-aging, you’re drinking at near 14% alcohol by volume beer.

Second Self is holding a special release event on February 26th where attendees can purchase all four cans. The brewery is planning on making Manic Pixie Dream a series going forward, with an evolving list of styles (including a sour/wild ale).

This is one of the few times we have found ourselves torn between the beer or the artwork that’s more exciting. A few more sips and we might just decide.

Style: Imperial Stout (w/ Coffee. Barrel Aged. Maple Syrup Bourbon.)
Availability: 16oz Cans. Brewery Only.
Debut: 2/26/17

13.9% ABV

by Reid Ramsay